High resolution quantitative piezoresponse force microscopy of BiFeO₃nanofibers with dramatically enhanced sensitivity

Abstract

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) has emerged as the tool of choice for characterizing piezoelectricity and ferroelectricity of low-dimensional nanostructures, yet quantitative analysis of such low-dimensional ferroelectrics is extremely challenging. In this communication, we report a dual frequency resonance tracking technique to probe nanocrystalline BiFeO(3) nanofibers with substantially enhanced piezoresponse sensitivity, while simultaneously determining its piezoelectric coefficient quantitatively and correlating quality factor mappings with dissipative domain switching processes. This technique can be applied to probe the piezoelectricity and ferroelectricity of a wide range of low-dimensional nanostructures or materials with extremely small piezoelectric effects.

Size-dependent piezoelectric and mechanical properties of electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers for enhanced energy harvesting

“…33 The results show that any sized electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) fibers exhibit a greater d 33 as compared to bulk, and the fibers between 500 -1000 nm in diameter exhibit slightly greater or equal d 33 value as compared to thick film P(VDF-TrFE) (Fig. 6d) ).…”

“…8a shows that the electroactive phases ratio increased as the fiber dimension decreased, which is expected to contribute to the observed increase in d 33 . The electroactive content of the electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) fibers in this study (up to approximately 89%) exhibited a similar, or higher values than the reported values in literature.…”

“…Similarly, the fiber dimension-dependent d 33 of electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) fibers was determined from the amplitude response of individual fibers having different diameters. For the calculation of d 33 , the quality factor (Q) of the AFM cantilever was taken into account since the amplitude responses were amplified by utilizing a resonance tracking technique, such that…”

“…For the calculation of d 33 , the quality factor (Q) of the AFM cantilever was taken into account since the amplitude responses were amplified by utilizing a resonance tracking technique, such that…”

Quantification of in-contact probe-sample electrostatic forces with dynamic atomic force microscopy

“…On the other hand, many dynamic scanning probe measurements rely on resonance enhancement of measurement sensitivity when measurements are carried out with use of a harmonic stimulus with a frequency near one of the vibrational resonant modes of the cantilever [18][19][20]. The resonant enhancement makes the measurements highly sensitive-tip displacements in sub-pm range can be detected-and special attention should be given to possible parasitic effects, which may distort the measurement results [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”