Imaging ferroelectric domains with a single-spin scanning quantum sensor

Abstract

The ability to sensitively image electric fields is important for understanding many nanoelectronic phenomena, including charge accumulation at surfaces and interfaces and field distributions in active electronic devices. A particularly exciting application is the visualization of domain patterns in ferroelectric and nanoferroic materials owing to their potential in computing and data storage. Here, we use a scanning nitrogen-vacancy (NV) microscope, well known for its use in magnetometry, to image domain patterns in piezoelectric (Pb[Zr${}_x$Ti${}_{1-x}$]O${}_3$) and improper ferroelectric (YMnO${}_3$) materials through their electric fields. Electric field detection is enabled by measuring the Stark shift of the NV spin using a gradiometric detection scheme. Analysis of the electric field maps allows us to discriminate between different types of surface charge distributions, as well as to reconstruct maps of the three-dimensional electric field vector and charge density. The ability to measure both stray electric and magnetic fields under ambient conditions opens exciting opportunities for the study of multiferroic and multifunctional materials and devices.

arXiv comment10 pages, 4 figures

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Observation of current whirlpools in graphene at room temperature
• Ptychographic nanoscale imaging of the magnetoelectric coupling in freestanding BiFeO${}_3$
• Modeling temperature-dependent population dynamics in the excited state of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond
• High Frequency Magnetometry with an Ensemble of Spin Qubits in Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Minimizing sensor-sample distances in scanning nitrogen-vacancy magnetometry
• Quantum Electrometer for Time-Resolved Material Science at the Atomic Lattice Scale
• Electron-spin double resonance of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond under strong driving field
• Multiplexed scanning microscopy with dual-qubit spin sensors
• Sub-millisecond electric field sensing with an individual rare-earth doped ferroelectric nanocrystal
• All-optical magnetic imaging with spin defects in van der Waals materials at Angstrom-scale