Investigation of poling behaviour of ferroelectric materials by electric force microscopy

We demonstrate. that electric force microscopy (EFM) is a valuable tool for characterizing the poling behaviour of materials containing defects (e.g. thin films) or of very small structures (e.g. microfibers). The stability of EFM poled structures is considered. The effects of poling and charging were distinguished by time-delayed investigation of the EFM signals. The short-term stability is estimated by local poling curves. We show that after EFM poling experiments, screening charges are situated near the sample surface. These charges have opposite sign to the dipole charges of the sample and stabilize its polarization state.