Time-resolved X-ray diffraction study of the structural dynamics in a ferroelectric thin film induced by sub-coercive fields

The electric field-dependence of structural dynamics in a tetragonal ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate thin film is investigated under sub-coercive and above-coercive fields using time-resolved X-ray diffraction. During the application of an external field to the pre-poled thin film capacitor, structural signatures of domain nucleation and growth include broadening of the in-plane peak width of a Bragg reflection concomitant with a decrease of the peak intensity. This disordered domain state is remanent and can be erased with an appropriate voltage pulse sequence.