Probing electromechanics at the nanoscale

by Dr Brian Rodriguez (Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research University College Dublin)

Tuesday 16 Nov 2010, 10:00 → 11:00 Europe/Stockholm

FB42

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is a powerful tool for imaging domain structure and probing polarization switching in ferroelectric materials. The characterization of nanoscale ferroelectrics brings new challenges but also holds the promise for, e.g., visualizing the predicted novel polarization states thought to result from the interplay between the depolarizing field and strain in nanoferroelectrics. Advances in nanoscale characterization of ferroelectrics and nanostructured-ferroelectrics using PFM and spectroscopy will be discussed. Recently, PFM has been applied to the much broader class of piezoelectric materials, including piezoelectric biopolymers and proteins. Examples of electromechanical imaging (in air) of biological systems will be presented. PFM has also been extended to a liquid environment for model ferroelectric systems, allowing preliminary results of liquid electromechanical imaging of biosystems to be obtained. The challenges of electromechanical imaging of biological systems in physiological environments will also be discussed.