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The kinetics of domain nucleation during polarization reversal in uniaxial ferroelectric lead germanate has been studied in detail using optical methods of visualization of the instantaneous domain configurations. Transient and steady-state regimes of nucleation have been discovered. The contribution of transient nucleation to polarization reversal essentially increases as the field is increased. Attention is drawn to the similarity between ferroelectric switching and a first-order phase transition. The obtained results can be used for the improvement of the description of switching behaviour in high fields.

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