Nanoscale piezoresponse of 70 nm poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoro‐ethylene) films annealed at different temperatures

Abstract

Abstract In order to characterize the piezoelectric properties of 70 nm thick poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene), P(VDF‐TrFE), films grown by a spin‐coating technique, both nanoscale manipulation and polarization switching were studied using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). We varied the annealing temperature from 75 °C to 145 °C and achieved a high‐quality 70 nm P(VDF‐TrFE) film annealed at the temperature of 95 °C. Ferroelectric domains and their properties were confirmed using X‐ray diffraction, grazing incidence reflection absorption Fourier Transform Infrared (GIRA‐FTIR) and PFM analysis. The ferroelectric domains in the film were homogeneously switchable below 5 V with a remnant d 33 of 14.9 pm/V. This offers our rationale for a promise in energy harvesting and switchability would be good for plastic electronics. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)