Nanoscale piezoresponse of 70 nm poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoro-ethylene) films annealed at different temperatures

Abstract

In order to characterize the piezoelectric properties of 70 nm thick poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene), P(VDF-TrFE), films grown by a spin-coating technique, both nanoscale manipulation and polarization switching were studied using piezoresponse force Microscopy (PFM). We varied the annealing, temperature from 75 degrees C to 145 degrees C and achieved a high-quality 70 nm P(VDF-TrFE) film annealed at the temperature of 95 degrees C. Ferroelecrtic domains and their properties were confirmed using X-ray diffraction, grazing incidence reflection absorption Fourier, Transform Infrared (GIRA-FTIR) and PFM analysis. The ferroelectric domains in the film were homogeneously switchable below 5 V with a remnant d(33) of 14.9 pm/V. This offers out rationale for a promise in energy harvesting and switchability would be good for plastic electronics. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim