Self-Assembly of Organic Ferroelectrics by Evaporative Dewetting: A Case of beta-Glycine

authors	Seyedhosseini, E; Romanyuk, K; Vasileva, D; Vasilev, S; Nuraeva, A; Zelenovskiy, P; Ivanov, M; Morozovska, AN; Shur, VY; Lu, HD; Gruverman, A; Kholkin, AL
nationality	International
journal	ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
author keywords	self-assembly; organic ferroelectrics; glycine; dewetting; size effect
keywords	THIN POLYMER-FILMS; CRYSTALS; GROWTH; MEMORY; CRYSTALLIZATION; LITHOGRAPHY; ARRAYS
abstract	Self-assembly of ferroelectric materials attracts significant interest because it offers a promising fabrication route to novel structures useful for microelectronic devices such as nonvolatile memories, integrated sensors/actuators, or energy harvesters. In this work, we demonstrate a novel approach for self-assembly of organic ferroelectrics (as exemplified by ferroelectric beta-glycine) using evaporative dewetting, which allows forming quasi-regular arrays of nano- and microislands with preferred orientation of polarization axes. Surprisingly, self-assembled islands are crystallographically oriented in a radial direction from the center of organic grains formed during dewetting process. The kinetics of dewetting process follows the t(-1/2) law, which is responsible for the observed polygon shape of the grain boundaries and island coverage as a function of radial position. The polarization in ferroelectric islands of beta-glycine is parallel to the substrate and switchable under a relatively small dc voltage applied by the conducting tip of piezoresponse force microscope. Significant size effect on polarization is observed and explained within the Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire phenomenological formalism.
publisher	AMER CHEMICAL SOC
issn	1944-8244
year published	2017
volume	9
issue	23
beginning page	20029
ending page	20037
digital object identifier (doi)	10.1021/acsami.7b02952
web of science category	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
subject category	Science & Technology - Other Topics; Materials Science
unique article identifier	WOS:000403631300075