Electric polarizations in PVDF-TrFE nanorods under lateral nanoshaping

Horizontal, single-dimensional, trianglelike poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) nanorods are prepared under lateral nanoconfinement induced by faceted m-plane sapphire surfaces. X-ray diffraction reciprocal space mappings reveal that the polymer contains polycrystalline ferroelectric beta-phase PVDF. Depolarizing fields induce different polarizations in polymer nanorods along the out-of-plane and in-plane directions. The differences are characterized using vector piezoresponse force microscopy. The depolarizing fields in the lateral PVDF-TrFE nanorods are further discussed in theory. Our results suggest that a nanofaceted m-plane sapphire can be an alternative template to induce the depolarizing fields for future nanosacle devices. Published under license by AIP Publishing.