Defining ferroelectric characteristics with reversible piezoresponse: PUND switching spectroscopy PFM characterization.

Detecting ferroelectricity at micro- and nanoscales is crucial for advanced nanomaterials and materials with complicated topography. Switching spectroscopy piezoresponse force microscopy (SSPFM), which involves measuring piezoelectric hysteresis loops via a scanning probe microscopy tip, is a widely accepted approach to characterize polarization reversal at the local scale and confirm ferroelectricity. However, the local hysteresis loops acquired through this method often exhibit unpredictable shapes, a phenomenon often attributed to the influence of parasitic factors such as electrostatic forces and current flow.

Spatially-Resolved Study of the Electronic Transport and Resistive Switching in Polycrystalline Bismuth Ferrite.

Ferroelectric materials attract much attention for applications in resistive memory devices due to the large current difference between insulating and conductive states and the ability of carefully controlling electronic transport via the polarization set-up. Bismuth ferrite films are of special interest due to the combination of high spontaneous polarization and antiferromagnetism, implying the possibility to provide multiple physical mechanisms for data storage and operations. Macroscopic conductivity measurements are often hampered to unambiguously characterize the electric transport, because of the strong influence of the diverse material microstructure.

Local electronic transport across probe/ionic conductor interface in scanning probe microscopy.

Charge carrier transport through the probe-sample junction can have substantial consequences for outcomes of electrical and electromechanical atomic-force-microscopy (AFM) measurements. For understanding physical processes under the probe, we carried out conductive-AFM (C-AFM) measurements of local current-voltage (I-V) curves as well as their derivatives on samples of a mixed ionic-electronic conductor LiMnO and developed an analytical framework for the data analysis. The implemented approach discriminates between contributions the highly resistive sample surface layer and the bulk with the account of ion redistribution in the field of the probe.

Correlative Confocal Raman and Scanning Probe Microscopy in the Ionically Active Particles of LiMnO Cathodes.

In this contribution, a correlative confocal Raman and scanning probe microscopy approach was implemented to find a relation between the composition, lithiation state, and functional electrochemical response in individual micro-scale particles of a LiMnO spinel in a commercial Li battery cathode. Electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) was implemented both at a low-frequency (3.5 kHz) and in a high-frequency range of excitation (above 400 kHz).