ATOMIC-FORCE AND SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF SURFACE AND DOMAIN-STRUCTURES OF BATIO3 FILMS AND BULK CRYSTALS

Tapping-mode atomic force and in situ scanning electron microscopic ob servations of surface and ferroelectric domain structures are performe d, respectively, for BaTiO3 crystalline films grown on {100}SrTiO3 sub strates by molecular beam epitaxy and for bulk crystals prepared by th e top-seeded solution growth technique. Reconstructionlike structures of very long periods are found for the first time in both thin (20 nm) and thick (1000 nm) films. A dependence of the end size of pole-type 180 degrees domains observed in films and bulk crystals on their thick ness agrees with the relation expected theoretically. (C) 1997 America n Institute of Physics.