Low coercive field of polymer ferroelectric via x-ray induced phase transition

We present an experimental strategy via X-ray irradiation combined with time-resolved X-ray diffraction to reduce a coercive field of ferroelectric thin films. We found in real-time that X-ray irradiation enables the irreversible phase transition from a polar to non-polar phase in ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) thin films. The non-polar regions act as initial nucleation sites for opposite domains thus reducing the coercive field, directly related to the switching of domains, by 48%.