Thickness profiles through fatigued bulk ceramic lead zirconate titanate

Wedge-cut samples of fatigued ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate ceramics were investigated using piezoresponse force microscopy in conjunction with conventional electrical hysteresis measurements. The local clamping of domains is monitored at different depths in the sample. The coercive fields in grains near the electrodes differ for different materials and preparation methods of the electrodes. For silver, fatigue consistently generates a space charge in the depth of the sample. For platinum electrodes, the fatigue behavior scatters strongly. Microscopically, it either occurs directly underneath the electrodes or resembles the behavior of the silver electrodes in other samples