In-situ investigation of the laser-assisted polarization reversal in ferroelectric nanolayers

The speed of the polarization reversal of ferroelectric (FE) nanolayers is of great interest for fundamental research and applications like sensing or data storage. However, the dynamics strongly depends on the domain structure of the thin films. We have shown how the structural and electrical response affect the switching dynamics. In this step we want to investigate how one can increase the speed of the polarization reversal: Therefore, we want to use small electrodes, which reduce the RC time constant of the FE device given by the active area and study how additional laser illumination affects the structural dynamics by strain and/or heat waves using time-resolved X-ray diffraction.