A technique for measuring the absolute value of the ferroelectric polarization angle using scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy (SNDM) is proposed and demonstrated. Using the technique, periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) with three-dimensional domain structure is observed. The measured polarization angles agreed well with the actual polarization orientations, and allowed precise visualization of the microdomain structure in PPLN. Through this experiment, we confirmed that SNDM is a useful tool for the absolute evaluation of the three-dimensional polarization direction.

This paper describes a newly developed ultra-high vacuum type scanning nonlinear dielectric microscope (UHV-SNDM) and the results from a ferroelectric LiTaO3 single crystal measured by the UHV-SNDM. In a cleaved (012) surface of LiTaO3 crystal, we can clearly observe a striped pattern with a period of about 0.3 nm and a granular pattern approximately corresponding to the sub-lattice period. From this image, we confirmed that the SNDM can be applied to lattice-level measurement in ferroelectric insulator materials.

A scanning nonlinear dielectric microscope (SNDM) probe, called theε311 -type probe, and a system to measure the ferroelectric polarization component parallel to the surface using rotating electric field have been developed. This is achieved by measuring the ferroelectric material's nonlinear dielectric constant ε311 instead of ε333, which is measured in conventional SNDM. Experimental result shows that we can successfully determine polarization component parallel to the surface. The SNDM system can measure polarization at any angle from the surface normal which is often of interest.

A scanning microwave microscope (Sm M) for high-throughput characterization of combinatorial dielectric materials has been developed using a lumped constant resonator probe. The probe consists of a microwave oscillator module equipped with a thin conducting needle and an outer conductor ring, which detects the dielectric constant of the sample just beneath the needle as a frequency shift of the resonator. The quantitative analysis of the dielectric constant for the bulk and the thin-film samples was carried out based on the measurement of gap-length dependence of the frequency shift. The analysis method was successfully applied to the characterization of composition-spread BaxSr1-xTiO3 thin film sample. The evaluation of far-field contribution to the frequency shift was found to be crucial for the accurate determination of dielectric constant especially in the characterization of combinatorial thin films.

A very high-resolution scanning nonlinear dielectric microscope with nanometer resolution was developed for the observation of ferroelectric polarization. We demonstrate that the resolution of the microscope is of a sub-nanometer order by measurement of domains in PZT and SBT thin films. The experimental result shows that nano-sized 180° c-c ferroelectric domain with the width of 1.5 nm for PZT thin film are observed. The result also shows that the resolution of the microscope is less than 0.5 nm for the PZT thin film.