The input of Barkhausen pulses to the switching current in congruent lithium niobate

Abstract

Barkhausen pulses (BPs) in ferroelectrics manifest themselves as sharp peaks in switching current during polarization reversal. The total input of BPs in previously studied ferroelectric crystals is about 0.03 of the switched charge. We have revealed a dominating role of BPs (up to 0.7 of the switched charge) during polarization reversal in lithium niobate crystals. The recording of the switching current simultaneously with in situ domain imaging allowed studying the individual giant BPs appearing as a result of domain merging. It has been demonstrated that analysis of few main merging events provides the important information about domain kinetics.

Keywords:

• Polarization reversal
• domain shape
• switching current
• Barkhausen noise
• domain merging

Acknowledgments

The equipment of the Ural Center for Shared Use “Modern Nanotechnology” of Ural Federal University was used.

Additional information

Funding

The research was made possible by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 19-72-00083).