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Updated: Jun 14, 2026
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Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Collective dynamics underpins Rayleigh behavior in disordered polycrystalline ferroelectrics
P Bintachitt1, S Jesse, D Damjanovic
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Summary
Disordered ferroelectrics exhibit nonlinear behavior due to collective domain wall dynamics, not individual walls. This finding challenges 100-year-old paradigms in ferroelectric materials research.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Ferroelectricity
Background:
- Disorder and local hysteresis are key to spin glasses, oxides, ferroelectrics, and ferromagnets.
- The link between hysteresis descriptors (e.g., Preisach density) and microstructure is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between microstructure and hysteresis in polycrystalline ferroelectrics.
- To perform quantitative nonlinearity measurements at the nanoscale.
Main Methods:
- Utilized polycrystalline ferroelectric capacitors as a model system.
- Performed quantitative nonlinearity measurements in volumes as small as 0.025 microm(3).
Main Results:
- Discovered nonlinear behavior onset with thickness is linked to micron-scale regions of high nonlinearity.
- Identified collective domain wall dynamics as the cause of Rayleigh behavior in disordered ferroelectrics.
- Provided evidence for domain avalanches in ferroelectric materials.
Conclusions:
- Collective domain wall dynamics, not individual wall motion, drive Rayleigh behavior.
- The findings necessitate a re-evaluation of established ferroelectric material paradigms.
- Nanoscale measurements reveal new insights into ferroelectric hysteresis and domain dynamics.
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