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The understanding of domain structures, specifically domain walls, currently attracts a significant attention in the field of (multi)-ferroic materials. In this article, we analyze contrast formation in full field electron microscopy applied to domains and domain walls in the uniaxial ferroelectric lithium niobate, which presents a large 3.8 eV band gap and for which conductive domain walls have been reported. We show that the transition from Mirror Electron Microscopy (MEM – electrons reflected) to Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM – electrons backscattered) gives rise to a robust contrast between domains with upwards (Pup) and downwards (Pdown) polarization, and provides a measure of the difference in surface potential between the domains. We demonstrate that out-of-focus conditions of imaging produce contrast inversion, due to image distortion induced by charged surfaces, and also carry information on the polarization direction in the domains. Finally, we show that the intensity profile at domain walls provides experimental evidence for a local stray, lateral electric field.

We report here atomic force microscopy experiments designed to uncover the nature of failure mechanisms occuring within the process zone at the tip of a crack propagating into a silica glass specimen under stress corrosion. The crack propagates through the growth and coalescence of nanoscale damage spots. This cavitation process is shown to be the key mechanism responsible for damage spreading within the process zone. The possible origin of the nucleation of cavities, as well as the implications on the selection of both the cavity size at coalescence and the process zone extension are finally discussed.

Multimillion atom molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to investigate dynamic frac- ture in glasses and nanostructured ceramics. Using multiresolution algorithms, simulations are carried out for up to 70 ps on massively parallel computers. MD results in amorphous silica (a-SiO2) reveal the formation of nanoscale cavities ahead of the crack tip. With an increase in applied strain, these cavities grow and coalesce and their coalescence with the advancing crack causes fracture in the system. Recent AFM studies of glasses confirm this behavior. The MD value for the critical stress intensity factor of a-SiO2 is in good agreement with experiments. Molecular dynamics simulations are also performed for nanostructured silicon nitride (n-Si3N4). Structural correlations in n-Si3N4 reveal that interfacial regions between nanoparticles are amorphous. Under an external strain, nanoscale cavities nucleate and grow in interfacial regions while the crack meanders through these regions. The fracture toughness of n-Si3N4 is found to be six times larger than that of crystalline α-Si3N4. We also investigate the morphology of fracture surfaces. MD results reveal that fracture surfaces of n-Si3N4 are characterized by roughness exponents 0.58 below and 0.84 above a certain crossover length, which is of the order of the size of Si3N4 nanoparticles. Experiments on a variety of materials reveal this behavior. The final set of simulations deals with the interaction of water with a crack in strained silicon. These simulations couple MD with a quantum-mechanical (QM) method based on the density functional theory (DFT) so that chemical processes are included. For stress intensity factor K = 0. 4M Pa m 1/2 , we find that a decomposed water molecule becomes attached to dangling bonds at the crack or forms a Si-O-Si structure. At K = 0. 5M Pa m 1/2 , water molecules