Polarization reversal studies of ferroelectric [(CH₃)₃NH]₃Sb₂Cl₉single crystals

Abstract

Abstract The switching process in new ferroelectric [(CH3)3NH]3 Sb2Cl9 was investigated using nematic liquid crystal decoration technique. It was found that the time of total switching obeys an exponential law 1/τs = 1/τ∞ exp (− α/E) and that the switching process is thermally activated, with activation energy diminishing as the strength of the external field increases. The visualization of the switching process on the c-axis revealed that the a-axis is the easy direction of domain growth.