Individual Barkhausen Pulses of Ferroelastic Nanodomains

Ferroelectric materials, upon electric field biasing, display polarization discontinuities known as Barkhausen jumps, a subclass of a more general phenomenon known as crackling noise. Herein, we follow at the nanoscale the motion of 90 degree needle domains induced by an electric field applied in the polarization direction of the prototypical ferroelectric BaTiO3, inside a transmission electron microscope. The nature of motion and periodicity of Barkhausen pulses leads to real-time visualization of distinctive interaction mechanisms of the domains with each other but without coming into contact, a mechanism that has not been observed before, or/and with the lattice where the domain walls appear to be moving through the dielectric medium relatively freely, experiencing weak Peierls-like potentials. Control over the kinetics of ferroelastic domain wall motion can lead to novel nanoelectronic devices pertinent to computing and storage applications.