Direct observation of ferroelectric domain walls in LiNbO3: Wall-meanders, kinks, and local electric charges
Authors
J. Gonnissen, D. Batuk, G. F. Nataf, L. Jones, A. M. Abakumov, S. Van Aert, D. Schryvers, and E. K. H. Salje
Reference
Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 26, no. 42, pp. 7599–7604, 2016
Description
Direct observations of the ferroelectric domain boundaries in LiNbO3 are performed using high-resolution high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging, revealing a very narrow width of the domain wall between the 180° domains. The domain walls demonstrate local side-way meandering, which results in inclinations even when the overall wall orientation follows the ferroelectric polarization. These local meanders contain kinks with “head-to-head” and “tail-to-tail” dipolar configurations and are therefore locally charged. The charged meanders are confined to a few cation layers along the polarization direction and are separated by longer stretches of straight domain walls.
