Improving information density in ferroelectric polymer films by using nanoimprinted gratings

Abstract

Articles you may be interested in Nanoscale domain growth dynamics of ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-co -trifluoroethylene) thin films Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 012908 (2010);

Laser Fabrication of Polymer Ferroelectric Nanostructures for Nonvolatile Organic Memory Devices

“…The phase shift after poling is significantly smaller than the one observed in the hysteresis experiments ( figure 3). This effect has been previously reported [10][11]48 and has been related to the fact that the average vertical orientation of the dipole moments does not change significantly by the application of the electric field. It is known that P(VDF-TrFE) crystals in thin films and in gratings are embedded in amorphous phase and they exhibit a needle like morphology which adopt a variety of orientations from flat-on to edge-on 10 .…”

“…This effect has been previously reported [10][11]48 and has been related to the fact that the average vertical orientation of the dipole moments does not change significantly by the application of the electric field. It is known that P(VDF-TrFE) crystals in thin films and in gratings are embedded in amorphous phase and they exhibit a needle like morphology which adopt a variety of orientations from flat-on to edge-on 10 . Therefore the value of the phase change can be attributed to the fact that the electric field is not applied over a single crystal but over a polycrystalline sample where crystals adopt different orientations.…”

“…Recently, PFM has also been used to store nanoscale information on ferroelectric organic films 10,48,[51][52][53][54][55][56] , using the tip as a stylus to write the information by applying a bias above the coercive field. Reading is attained by the piezoelectric response of the sample, which gives different contrast between written and unwritten zones 53 or by the difference in the electrical current that flows through the material 2,4 .…”

“…Functional devices, such as diodes [1][2] and transistors [3][4][5] , have been fabricated in a layer-by-layer approach by combining thin films of ferroelectric polymers with other materials like semiconducting polymers 4 and inorganic alloys 6 . Moreover, the use of nanopatterned surfaces in these devices has shown to improve the ferroelectric response of the polymers [7][8] , enhance the storage information density by controlling molecular architecture [9][10][11][12] , and also allow the possibility of preparing 3-dimensional nanostructures, such as multiple-gate transistors [13][14][15] .…”

Ferroelectric polymer nanopillar arrays on flexible substrates by reverse nanoimprint lithography

“…Previous studies of ferroelectric polymers, like polyvinylidene-co-trifluoroethylene, P(VDF-TrFE), report results from conventional nanoimprint lithography (NIL) with highcost rigid molds at high pressures ranging from 20 bar to 120 bar and 130 to 150 1C to produce ferroelectric nanostructures on hard substrates. 5,7,[17][18][19][20][21] Application of conventional NIL to produce nanostructured films on flexible substrates has a number of drawbacks, such as mechanical and thermal deformation of the substrates, 22,23 poor adhesion, 24 and incompatibility with high temperatures. 25,26 These drawbacks lead to low throughput and poor pattern uniformity in large arrays.…”