Observation of ferroelectric domain structure branching and large step mobility on the TGS surface by atomic force and SNOM microscopy

Abstract We use atomic force microscopy(AFM) and scanning near field optical microscopy (SNOM) to study the TGS ferroelectric surface by monitoring its evolution in time and temperature by controlling the piezoelectric drifts. Experiments reveal a contrast which can be tentatively interpreted as evidence of theoretically predicted domain structure branching observed for the first time the in the range of 0.2 μ. The small features, presumably opposite polarity domains, are erasable by applying a voltage and by local illumination with argon laser light. In the paraelectric phase, unexpectedly large step mobilities are revealed. Also a complex character of the domain boundary structure is observed.