In-situ SXDM of antiferroelectric/ferroelectric phase transition in PZO thin film

This proposal aims at studying the antiferroelectric/ferroelectric (AFE/FE) transition in antiferroelectric PbZrO3 (PZO) thin films by scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy (SXDM) during the application of an electric field. SXDM provides access to the strain with a resolution of 10-5 and lattice tilt with millidegree accuracy while the spatial resolution is defined by the beam size [1-4]. The consecutive measurement at different voltages allows for imaging the strain evolution and the propagation of the FE phase close to the coercive field.