Shimmering ferroelectric domains

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False color image of the electric domains on the surface of a bariumtitanate crystal. Image (a) was measured with a wavelength of 17.2 micrometers image (b) of 16.7 micrometers. The color red means a strong signal. The change of the colors from red t ...
False color image of the electric domains on the surface of a bariumtitanate crystal. Image (a) was measured with a wavelength of 17.2 micrometers, image (b) of 16.7 micrometers. The color red means a strong signal. The change of the colors from red to blue is clearly visible.
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Ferroelectric materials are named after ferromagnetic ones because they behave in a similar way. The main difference: these materials are not magnetic, but permanently electrically polarized. They have great importance for data storage technology and novel piezoelectric devices. Dresden scientists were able to produce microscopic images of ferroelectric domains - tiny regions of a ferroelectric material -, where the electric polarization points into different directions. These results were published in the journal Physical Review Letters recently.


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