Investigation of fatigue mechanism in ferroelectric ceramic via piezoresponse force microscopy

The influence of polarization fatigue on domain patterns of commercial lead zirconate titanate ceramics (PZT) was studied by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). It was found that the fatigue is accompanied by the appearance of ferroelastic domains formed to relieve arising mechanical stresses. The strongest effect was observed in the regions adjacent to the electrode. Annealing to the temperatures above the phase transition promotes partial recovering of the initial domain structure.