Abstract
The characteristic properties of the displacement current transients obtained from ferroelectric colemanite crystals during polarization reversal are presented in detail. A phenomenological and semiempirical model of the switching mechanism is proposed. The model yields good agreement with the switching current dependence upon time, field amplitude and ambient temperature. It is based upon random nucleation followed by extensive sidewise displacement of the nucleated 180° domains. A model based upon three dimensional growth of nucleated domains is shown to be in poor agreement with experiment.