Fatigue as a local phase decomposition: A switching-induced charge-injection model

Following our recent experimental work on electrical fatigue [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 177601 (2006)], a theory of a charge-injection fatigue model is developed, emphasizing the extremely high depolarization electric field generated near the electrodes by bound charges at the tip of needlelike domains during switching. In particular, the relationship Pᵣ(N)∕Pᵣ(0)~exp(-N∕λ), where N is the number of the fatigue cycles and λ⪢1, is derived, which explains the statistical origin of the universality of the logarithmic fatigue behavior observed for various ferroelectric substances in the literature. The consistency of this model with extensive body of the experimental data has been discussed and a systematic picture of fatigue is established. In particular, the ``size effect''/fatigue coupling, the fatigue-free behavior of low Pᵣ samples, and the exaggerated fatigue data of Colla et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 2478 (1998)] at very low frequencies (mHz) are all well predicted by our model.