Switching times of domains in DKDP

Abstract

We have studied domain switching in the ferroelectric DKDP as a function of the applied electric field and temperature. The polarization is determined from the relative ESR line intensities of AsO⁴- radicals introduced by doping with KDA and irradiating the sample with x-rays. The time dependence of the polarization is found to follow a stretched exponential parameterized by an exponent n and characteristic stretched exponential parameterized by an exponent n and characteristic time _t. The characteristic time is found to be a monotonic function of the temperature and electric field. The exponent n is insensitive to both the temperature and electric field and is close to n = 0.5 over the range of the temperatures and fields studied. Using the Avrami model for domains, the velocity of the domain wall is inversely proportional to the characteristic size of the domain.

Key Words:

• ferroelectric
• KDP
• switching