Defect based real-time diagnostics of ferroelectric domain wall motion

We investigated the static and dynamic interaction of defect dipoles and ferroelectric domain walls in lithium niobate. Using a home‐built confocal microscope with high spatial and temporal resolution we are able to image both the static domain wall region and the domain wall regions associated with a moving domain wall by monitoring the emission from rare earth ions. We find that the extent of perturbation induced by the presence of a domain wall is increasing with the speed of the domain wall motion. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)