Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 24, 2025

Chemical Synthesis of Porous Barium Titanate Thin Film and Thermal Stabilization of Ferroelectric Phase by Porosity-Induced Strain
Published on: March 27, 2018
Nanoscale Polarization-Dependent Young's Modulus of Ferroelectric BaTiO3 Single Crystals
Marti Checa1,2, Christina Stefani2, Kyle Kelley1
1Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830 United States.
Abstract:
Flexoelectric fields produced by strong strain gradients at the nanoscale couple to ferroelectric polarization, promoting changes in the mechanical properties of ferroelectric materials as a function of the direction of the ferroelectric polarization. In this work, we calculate the asymmetry in the Young's modulus found in oppositely polarized out-of-plane domains of BaTiO3 single crystals by means of contact resonance AFM, and we evaluate its impact on the electromechanical response as measured by piezoresponse force microscopy, both using band excitation modes. We analyze the electromechanical response of the different BaTiO3 domains using k-means to build up their mean elastic and electromechanical features and quantify the flexoelectrically induced modulation of the Young's modulus. Finally, we discuss the use of contact Kelvin probe force microscope measurements to decouple electrostatic artifacts from purely piezoelectric ones when flexoelectric coupling appears.
Related Concept Videos
Dielectric Polarization in a Capacitor
Ferromagnetism
Electrostatic Boundary Conditions in Dielectrics
Consider a case where both the mediums across a boundary are two different dielectric materials. Recall that the electric field and electric displacement are proportional and related through the material's...
Relation between Poisson's ratio, Modulus of Elasticity and Modulus of Rigidity
Potential Due to a Polarized Object
Strain and Elastic Modulus

