Depolarization of multidomain ferroelectric materials.

Depolarization in ferroelectric materials has been studied since the 1970s, albeit quasi-statically. The dynamics are described by the empirical Merz law, which gives the polarization switching time as a function of electric field, normalized to the so-called activation field. The Merz law has been used for decades; its origin as domain-wall depinning has recently been corroborated by molecular dynamics simulations.

The negative piezoelectric effect of the ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride).

Piezoelectricity describes interconversion between electrical charge and mechanical strain. As expected for lattice ions displaced in an electric field, the proportionality constant is positive for all piezoelectric materials. The exceptions are poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers with trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)), which exhibit a negative longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient.

Controlling the on/off current ratio of ferroelectric field-effect transistors.

The on/off current ratio in organic ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) is largely determined by the position of the threshold voltage, the value of which can show large device-to-device variations. Here we show that by employing a dual-gate layout for the FeFET, we can gain full control over the on/off ratio. In the resulting dual-gate FeFET the ferroelectric gate provides the memory functionality and the second, non-ferroelectric, control gate is advantageously used to set the threshold voltage.

Polarization fatigue of organic ferroelectric capacitors.

The polarization of the ferroelectric polymer P(VDF-TrFE) decreases upon prolonged cycling. Understanding of this fatigue behavior is of great technological importance for the implementation of P(VDF-TrFE) in random-access memories. However, the origin of fatigue is still ambiguous.

Transverse charge transport through DNA oligomers in large-area molecular junctions.

We investigate the nature of charge transport in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) using self-assembled layers of DNA in large-area molecular junctions. A protocol was developed that yields dense monolayers where the DNA molecules are not standing upright, but are lying flat on the substrate. As a result the charge transport is measured not along the DNA molecules but in the transverse direction, across their diameter.