The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will provide Dr. Bryan D. Huey with support for twelve months to work with Drs. G. Andrew D. Briggs and Oleg V. Kolosov at Oxford University. This project is co-funded by NSF's Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences' Office of Multidisciplinary Activities. The project is entitled "Novel Investigation of Individual Domain Switching in Ferroelectric Thin Films." The first of three objectives is (as the title indicates) the development of a novel technique for the study of individual ferroelectric domain switching, with the only known simultaneous resolution at nanometer and nanosecond scales. Second, the switching response of individual domains will be characterized from milliseconds to nanoseconds, as a function of position. Third, the minimum separation between individually addressed domains will be determined to ensure orientation stability as a function of switching speed. This research will be the only known direct study of individual domain switching at technologically relevant time scales. Andrew Briggs has extensive background in ultrasonic and scanning probe measurements and theory. Oleg Kolosov jointly invented Ultrasonic Force Microscopy (UFM) and therefore has considerable experience with UFM development and application. He previously performed pioneering research into ferroelectric domain manipulation.
