In situ scanning transmission electron microscopy enables observation of the domain dynamics in ferroelectric materials as a function of externally applied bias and temperature. The resultant data sets contain a wealth of information on polarization switching and phase transition mechanisms. However, identification of these mechanisms from observational data sets has remained a problem due to a large variety of possible configurations, many of which are degenerate. Here, we introduce an approach based on rotationally invariant variational autoencoder (VAE), which enables learning a latent space representation of the data with multiple real-space rotationally equivalent variants mapped to the same latent space descriptors. By varying the size of training sub-images in the VAE, we tune the degree of complexity in the structural descriptors from simple domain wall detection to the identification of switching pathways. This yields a powerful tool for the exploration of the dynamic data in mesoscopic electron, scanning probe, optical, and chemical imaging. Moreover, this work adds to the growing body of knowledge of incorporating physical constraints into the machine and deep-learning methods to improve learned descriptors of physical phenomena.
Intrinsic switching field distribution of arrays of Ni80Fe20 nanowires probed by $\mathit{in\, situ}$ magnetic force microscopy
利用磁力显微镜（MFM）研究了电沉积在聚碳酸酯膜上的不同直径（40、50、70和100 nm）的弱堆积铁磁性Ni 80 Fe 20纳米线阵列的磁化反转过程。对于这种低堆积密度的纳米磁体，相邻线之间的偶极相互作用可以忽略不计。本征开关场分布已被提取从原位MFM图像和它的宽度被发现是相当小的比密集的纳米线阵列。
Understanding the polarization switching mechanisms at play in ferroelectric materials is crucial for their exploitation in electronic devices. The conventional centrosymmetric reference structure-based mechanism which accounts for ferroelectricity in most of the usual displacive ferroelectric materials is too energy-demanding for some newly diagnosed ferroelectric materials such as the Ga2-xFexO3 (0.8 < x < 1.4) compounds. Some alternative theoretical propositions have been made and need experimental confirmation. A dual-scale electron microscopy study is performed on thin films of the Ga0.6F…
Magnetic force microscopy study of the switching field distribution of low density arrays of single domain magnetic nanowires
在本工作中，我们报告的原位磁力显微镜（MFM）研究的磁化反转的二维阵列的铁磁性Ni 80 Fe 20和Co 55 Fe 45纳米线（NW）具有不同的直径（40，50，70和100 nm）沉积在低孔隙率（P<1%）的纳米多孔聚碳酸酯膜。在这样的阵列中，纳米线彼此充分隔离，使得可以忽略长程偶极相互作用。对同一点不同磁化状态下的MFM实验进行了分析，确定了开关场分布（SFD）。从MFM图像获得的磁化曲线是相对方形的。与高密度阵列相比，SFD宽度更窄。曲线的弱增宽可归因于NW本征SFD。的直径和组成的铁磁性NW的影响进行了研究。
Bipolar resistive switching using organic molecule is very promising for memory application owing to their advantages like simple device structure, low manufacturing cost, their stability and flexibility etc. Herein we report Langmuir-Blodgett and spin-coated film based bipolar resistive switching devices using organic material indole derivative. Pressure - area per molecule isotherm, Brewster Angle Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy were used to have an idea about organization and morphology of the organic material onto thin film. Based on device structure an…
He$^+$ ion irradiation is used to pattern multiple areas of Pt/Co/W films with different irradiation doses in Hall bars. The resulting perpendicular magnetic anisotropy landscape enables selective multilevel current-induced switching, with full deterministic control of the position and order of the individual switching elements. Key pattern design parameters are specified, opening a way to scalable multilevel switching devices.
The elastic response of BaTiO$_3$ single crystals during electric field cycling at room temperature has been studied using in-situ Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (RUS), which allows monitoring of both the elastic and anelastic changes caused by ferroelectric polarization switching. We find that the first ferroelectric switching of a virgin single crystal is dominated by ferroelastic 90° switching. In subsequent ferroelectric switching, ferroelastic switching is reduced by domain pinning and by the predominance of 180° ferroelectric domains, as confirmed by polarized light microscopy. RUS und…
The solidification behavior of a eutectic AlCu specimen is investigated via in situ scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) experiments. Solidification conditions are varied by imposing various cooling conditions via a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based membrane. The methodology allows the use of material processed by a melting and casting route close to industrial metallurgically fabricated material for in situ STEM solidification studies. Different rapid solidification morphologies could be obtained solely on a single specimen by the demonstrated strategy. Additional post-…
Here we analyze a three-dimensional distribution of crystallographic slip measured in-situ during the uniaxial deformation of hexagonal Ti-7Al. The slip field is reconstructed using a novel methodology that combines spatially resolved lattice orientation fields and grain-averaged stresses measured using high-energy X-ray diffraction microscopy (HEDM) with crystal plasticity. Analysis is performed to explore lattice orientation dependence, stress dependence, and connectivity (network relationships) of grains experiencing elevated amounts of slip. Elevated slip is found to be primarily associate…
Spin orbit torque driven switching is a favourable way to manipulate nanoscale magnetic objects for both memory and wireless communication devices. The critical current required to switch from one magnetic state to another depends on the geometry and the intrinsic properties of the materials used, which are difficult to control locally. Here we demonstrate how focused helium ion beam irradiation can modulate the local magnetic anisotropy of a Co thin film at the microscopic scale. Real-time in-situ characterisation using the anomalous Hall effect showed up to an order of magnitude reduction of…
Antiferromagnets offer spintronic device characteristics unparalleled in ferromagnets owing to their lack of stray fields, THz spin dynamics, and rich materials landscape. Microscopic imaging of aniferromagnetic domains is one of the key prerequisites for understading physical principles of the device operation. However, adapting common magnetometry techniques to the dipolar-field-free antiferromagnets has been a major challenge. Here we demonstrate in a collinear antiferromagnet a thermoelectric detection method by combining the magneto-Seebeck effect with local heat gradients generated by sc…
Domain Switching on the Pareto Front: Multi-Objective Deep Kernel Learning in Automated Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
University of Tennessee（田纳西大学）；Institute of Science Tokyo（东京科学大学）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Rice University（莱斯大学）；Pacific Northwest National Laboratory（太平洋西北国家实验室）
The early stage of the reactive interdiffusion in the Cu-Al system was investigated at 350 {\textdegree}C and 300 {\textdegree}C thanks to in-situ transmission electron microscopy. A special care was given to find conditions where the electron beam and the sample free surface do not affect significantly the reaction. A special emphasis was then given on the influence of grain boundaries that are fast diffusion paths, and on nanoscaled particles that may interact with the transformation front. It was found that there is a transient state followed by a steady state where the mean growth rates of…
Theoretical studies have shown that new physical properties such as tunable gap openings or quantum spinHall effects could be expected from group-IV graphene analogs (silicene, germanene, stanene). While therehave been numerous studies of growth of such Si, Ge, Sn monolayers, the demonstration of their hexagonalorganization has been often based on postgrowth characterization, and their analogy to graphene has remainedcontroversial. Our real-time scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) observation during Ge deposition on Ag(111)in the 380--430 K temperature range reveals that Ag atoms are involved …
Combination of local heating and biasing at the tip-surface junction in temperature-assisted piezoresponse force microscopy (tPFM) opens the pathway for probing local temperature induced phase transitions in ferroics, exploring the temperature dependence of polarization dynamics in ferroelectrics, and potentially discovering coupled phenomena driven by strong temperature- and electric field gradients. Here, we analyze the signal formation mechanism in tPFM and explore the interplay between thermal- and bias-induced switching in model ferroelectric materials. We further explore the contribution…
We study current-induced deterministic magnetization switching and domain wall motion via polar Kerr microscopy in all-amorphous W$_{66}$Hf$_{34}$/CoFeB/TaO$_\text{x}$ with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and large spin Hall angle. Investigations of magnetization switching as a function of in-plane assist field and current pulse-width yield switching current densities as low as $3\times 10^{9}$ A/m$^2$. We accredit this low switching current density to a low depinning current density, which was obtained from measurements of domain wall displacements upon current injection. This correlation i…
Emerging hierarchical dislocation structures: Insights from scanning electron microscopy-electron backscatter diffraction in situ tensile testing and multifractal analysis
The effects of current induced Néel spin-orbit torques on the antiferromagnetic domain structure of epitaxial Mn$_2$Au thin films were investigated by X-ray magnetic linear dichroism - photoemission electron microscopy (XMLD-PEEM). We observed current induced switching of AFM domains essentially corresponding to morphological features of the samples. Reversible as well as irreversible Néel vector reorientation was obtained in different parts of the samples and the switching of up to 30 % of all domains in the field of view of 10 $μ$m is demonstrated. Our direct microscopical observations are c…
Compression of micro-pillars is followed in situ by a quick nano-focused X-ray scanning microscopy technique combined with three-dimensional reciprocal space mapping. Compared to other attempts using 2 X-ray nanobeams, it avoids any motion or vibration that would lead to a destruction of the sample. The technique consists of scanning both the energy of the incident nano-focused X-ray beam and the in-plane translations of the focusing optics along the X-ray beam. Here, we demonstrate the approach by imaging the strain and lattice orientation of Si micro-pillars and their pedestals during in sit…
We report on the electric field response of 180 degree nanodomain walls in BaTiO$_3$ using in situ electrical biasing in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The sample is biased on a micro-device designed for reliable testing whose key attributes are confirmed by finite element calculations. The presence of weakly charged zig-zag domain walls at room temperature is attributed to the geometric confinement of the device. The motion of the domain walls under the applied electric field allows to extract local P-E loops where distinct domain wall pinning in deep and random energy potential prof…
Near-field and far-field high-energy diffraction microscopy and microcomputed tomography X-ray techniques were used to study a bulk single crystal nickel-titanium shape memory alloy sample subjected to thermal cycling under a constant applied load. Three-dimensional in situ reconstructions of the austenite microstructure are presented, including the structure and distribution of emergent grain boundaries. After one cycle, the subgrain structure is significantly refined, and heterogeneous Σ3 and Σ9 grain boundaries emerge. The low volume and uneven dispersion of the emergent Σ boundaries across…
