Scanning force microscopy study of the ferroelectric phase transition in triglycine sulfate

Voltage-modulated scanning force microscopy is applied to study the temperature dependence of the ferroelectric domain structure of triglycine sulfate up to T-C, the ferroelectric transition temperature. The polarization image contrast exhibits a power-law decrease as T-C is approached, associated with the competition between Maxwell stress and the converse piezoelectric effect. Substantial differences in the static and dynamic domain patterns are detected for two samples of different aging conditions.