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We report on differential etching behavior of the different orientations of the polarization in BiFeO3 (BFO), similar to other ferroelectrics, such as LiNbO3. We show how this effect can be used to fabricate epitaxial BiFeO3 nanostructures. By means of piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) domains of arbitrary shape and size can be poled in an epitaxial BiFeO3 film, which are then reproduced in the film morphology by differential etching. Structures with a lateral size smaller than 200 nm were fabricated and very good retention properties as well as a highly increased piezoelectric response were detected by PFM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large range ordered La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 and SrRuO3 epitaxial dots were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition using stencil masks and were embedded in ferroelectric PbTiO3 epitaxial films. PbTiO3 films grown on top of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 dots form arrays of 180° domains that are switchable and have good ferroelectric properties. PbTiO3 films made on top of SrRuO3 dots have a monodomain polarization state. These observations point out the importance of the electronic properties of the bottom electrode in the selection of a preferential polarization state in epitaxial ferroelectric films and propose a route of fabricating large arrays of switchable 180° ferroelectric domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In piezoresponse force microscopy a lateral signal at the domain boundaries is occasionally observed. In recent years, a couple of experiments have been reported and varying explanations for the origin of this lateral signal have been proposed. Additionally, elaborated theoretical modeling for this particular issue has been carried out. Here we present experimental data obtained on different crystallographic cuts of LiNbO3, BaTiO3, and KTiOPO4 single crystals. We could thereby rule out some of the explanations proposed so far, introduce another possible mechanism, and quantitatively compare our results to the existing modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]