Scanning force microscopy study of the ferroelectric phase transition in triglycine sulfate

Voltage-modulated scanning force microscopy is applied to study the tempera ture dependence of the ferroelectric domain structure of triglycine sulfate up to T-C, the ferroelectric transition temperature. The polarization imag e contrast exhibits a power-law decrease as T-C is approached, associated w ith the competition between Maxwell stress and the converse piezoelectric e ffect. Substantial differences in the static and dynamic domain patterns ar e detected for two samples of different aging conditions. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01410-8].