Tailoring domain engineered structures in ferroelectric materials
Scanning probe apparatus, comprising: a) a tip-electrode which is coupled to be maintained at a first potential; b) a counter-electrode which is positioned in proximity with the tip electrode and which is coupled to be maintained at a second potential differing from the first potential by a value greater than approximately 150 volts; and c) positioning instrumentation, which is adapted to maintain the tip-electrode at a distance from a surface while scanning the tip-electrode parallel to the surface, and controls the position of the tip-electrode in a scanning direction parallel to the surface to within a resolution sufficient so that the apparatus can be used as a scanning probe microscope.
1. Scanning probe apparatus, comprising:
a) a tip-electrode which is coupled to be maintained at a first potential;
b) a counter-electrode which is positioned in proximity with the tip electrode and which is coupled to be maintained at a second potential differing from the first potential by a value greater than approximately 150 volts; and
c) positioning instrumentation, which is adapted to maintain the tip-electrode at a distance from a surface while scanning the tip-electrode parallel to the surface, and controls the position of the tip-electrode in a scanning direction parallel to the surface to within a resolution sufficient so that the apparatus can be used as a scanning probe microscope.
2. Scanning probe apparatus, comprising:
a) a tip-electrode which is coupled to be maintained at a first potential;
b) a counter-electrode which is positioned in proximity with the tip electrode and which is coupled to be maintained at a second potential differing from the first potential by a value greater than approximately 150 volts; and
c) positioning instrumentation, which is adapted to maintain the tip-electrode at a distance from a surface while scanning the tip-electrode parallel to the surface, and controls the position of the tip-electrode in a scanning direction parallel to the surface to within better than 1.1 microns.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 , wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 850 volts.
4. Apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 1050 volts.
5. Apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 1200 volts.
6. Apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 4500 volts.
7. Apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 15,000 volts.
8. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 or 2 , wherein the tip electrode has point dimensions less than 1 micron across.
9. Apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the point dimensions are less than 100 nm.
10. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 or 2 , wherein the distance of the tip-electrode from the surface is less than about 1 nm.