Thin piezoelectric VDF-TrFE copolymer films for data storage

We used the Scanning Nearfield Acoustic Microscope-a nontouching profilometer with a conducting tip-both to pole thin ferroelectric VDF-TrFE copolymer films and to subsequently monitor the resulting pie-zoelectrically stimulated surface motion. For thin uncovered polymer films we were able to measure simultaneously the piezoactivity and the surface topography with a lateral resolution of 1 μm. Furthermore we used a focused electron beam to create a poling pattern of narrow lateral extension and detected the corresponding local piezoactivity by using the Scanning Nearfield Acoustic Microscope.