2013 International Tutorial Workshop on Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Nanoscale Electromechanics of Polar Materials

 

Coupling between electrical and mechanical
phenomena is ubiquitous in nature and underpins the functionality of
materials and systems as diversified as ferroelectrics and
multiferroics, electroactive molecules, and biological systems. In
ferroelectrics, electromechanical behavior is directly linked to
polarization order parameter and hence can be used to study complex
phenomena including polarization reversal, domain wall pinning,
multiferroic interaction, and electron-lattice coupling. The very basis
of functionalities of biological systems is electromechanics - from
nerve-controlled muscle contraction on macroscale to cardiac activity
and hearing on micro scale and to energy storage in mitochondria,
voltage-controlled ion channels and electromotor proteins on nanoscale.
More broadly, electromechanical coupling is a key component of virtually
all electrochemical transformations, and is a nearly universal part of
energy conversion and transport processes. It forms a basis for many
device applications, and is directly relevant to virtually all existing
and emerging aspects of materials science and nanobiotechnology.

 

The ubiquity and importance of electromechanics
is belied by the lack of systematic interdisciplinary studies, due to,
until recently, the dearth of corresponding nanoscale probing tools and
the difficulty in quantitatively determining the relatively small
electromechanical coupling coefficients. The development of
piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and piezoelectric nanoindentation
technique in the last decade has led to rapid advances in the
investigation of electromechanics with unprecedented resolution. In
ferroelectric materials, PFM has enabled imaging static and dynamic
domain characteristics at the nanometer level, providing direct
experimental observations on switching and fatigue, domain-defect
interactions, and nucleation mechanisms. The last several years have
also witnessed a number of spectacular advances in PFM imaging and
characterization of III-V nitrides, the discovery of biological
ferroelectricity, and expanding PFM capabilities to liquid and vacuum
environments, as well as electrochemical systems in the form of
electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM)

 

This workshop aims to provide in-depth
description and recent advances in PFM and nanoscale electromechanics.
It will introduce basic principles of PFM operation, relevant
instrumental aspects, and image interpretation. The theory of cantilever
dynamics, PFM contact mechanics, resolution theory, and their
implications for qualitative and quantitative data interpretation will
be presented. The recent technical advances, including vector PFM,
high-frequency PFM, band-excitation, switching spectroscopy PFM, and
imaging and polarization switching in liquids and vacuum, will also be
illustrated. For ferroelectric and multiferroic materials, applications
of PFM for domain imaging, nucleation center mapping, and probing
polarization dynamics in thin films and capacitor structures will be
presented. Electromechanical probing of biological materials,
soft-condensed matters, and electrochemical systems beyond classical
ferroelectric applications will also be discussed in detail. Finally,
participants will gain hand-on experience in PFM using various
commercial systems during Lab Demos , and are welcome to bring their own samples for testing.

 

The three-day workshop consists of Tutorial Lectures by PFM pioneers, Topical Lectures by leading scientists in the field, Industrial Lectures from leading PFM manufacturers, and Poster Sessions for attendees to discuss their own work. It also includes extensive Lab Demos
for participants to gain hand-on experience in PFM on various
commercial systems, for which the attendees can bring their own samples
for testing and examinations.

We look forward to seeing in Nanjing next you. You can also contact us at xiaomeil [at] nju.edu.cn (Xiaomei Lu) and jjli [at] uw.edu (Jiangyu Li).