Switching dynamics in Croconic Acid thin film*

Croconic Acid (CA) exhibits ferroelectricity due to proton displacement between molecules. The voltage and pulse duration dependence of polarization switching in CA thin film are studied using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). From this study, the microscopic mechanism of CA polarization switching is revealed. And the KAI domain growth model is used to fit with this switching dynamic behavior. From the fitting, the dimensionality of domain wall, the nucleation activation energy and other structural parameters are obtained. Also, the dependence of film thickness and substrate effect for CA switching are investigated. This study should be helpful for the control experiments in the ferroelectric devices and organic spin-valves using CA as the spacer.