Abstract
Spatially resolved polarization switching in ferroelectric nanocapacitors was studied on the sub-25 nm scale using the first-order reversal curve (FORC) method. The chosen capacitor geometry allows both a high-veracity observation of the ferroelastic domain structure and the mapping of polarization switching in a uniform field, synergistically combining microstructural observations and probing of uniform-field polarization responses as relevant to device operation. A classical Kolmogorov-Avrami-Ishibashi model has been adapted to the voltage domain and the individual switching dynamics of the FORC response curves are well approximated by the adapted model. The comparison with microstructures suggests a strong spatial variability of the switching dynamics inside the nanocapacitors.
