Sergei V. Kalinin Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
Sergei V. Kalinin coauthored a theory separating the contrast mechanisms in piezoresponse force microscopy. Modeling a small tip above an anisotropic dielectric surface connects the local electric field, contact geometry and measured displacement. Electrostatic and electromechanical contributions can change with the imaging conditions, so the same apparent domain contrast can have different physical origins. The work establishes conditions needed to interpret the measurement as a quantitative probe of ferroelectric response.[ref]