Abstract
Near-field tip-enhanced and symmetry-selective nonlinear light scattering is demonstrated for imaging nanoscopic ferroelectric order. The surface topology of antiparallel ferroelectric domains in multiferroic is spatially resolved by second-harmonic generation (SHG). Optical phase contrast is obtained by interference between the local near-field SHG and a self-homodyne far-field reference SHG field. Ferroelectric domains anisotropically elongated along the hexagonal crystallographic axis were found, with typical dimensions of . The irregular domain shapes seem to contrast the behavior of ordinary ferroelectrics. Relying on symmetry properties only, SHG scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy can be extended to probe any ferroic order.
- Received 4 February 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.79.100107
©2009 American Physical Society