SURFACE-CHARGE DENSITY AND EVOLUTION OF DOMAIN-STRUCTURE IN TRIGLYCINE SULFATE DETERMINED BY ELECTROSTATIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY

A dynamic contact mode operation of electrostatic-force microscopy (EF M) with an ac modulation has been developed and used to investigate th e domain structure and dynamics of a triglycine sulfate single crystal . Well-separated topographic and domain contrast images have been obta ined by detecting the force instead of the force gradient in the dynam ic contact mode operation of EFM. Surface charge density and the aniso tropic domain wall thickness have been measured. The evolution of doma ins embedded in an oppositely polarized larger domain indicates the ex istence of a significant interaction between domains of the same polar ity.