Direct and simultaneous observation of ferroelectric and magnetic domains

The ferroelectric/magnetic domain structure in a magnetoelectric binding BaTiO 3/Fe 81Ga 19 and the ferroelectric/crystallographic domain structure in a magnetoelectric binding PMN-34PT/Mn 50Ni 28Ga 22 were observed successfully by scanning electron acoustic microscopy (SEAM). Both the stripe ferroelectric domains in single crystals and the stripe magnetic domains in polycrystalline grains are obtained simultaneously, which exhibits that the scanning electron acoustic microscopy is a unique imaging technique. In addition, the experimental results show that the SEAM technique may be used in multiferroics to character two or more ferroic domains simultaneously. The imaging mechanisms of ferroelectric domains, magnetic domains, and crystallographic domains are attributed to piezoelectric coupling mechanism, magneto–elastic coupling mechanism, and thermo–wave coupling mechanism, respectively.