- Ruff, Alexander;
- Li, Ziyu;
- Loidl, Alois;
- Schaab, Jakob;
- Fiebig, Manfred;
- Cano, Andres;
- Yan, Zewu;
- Bourret, Edith;
- Glaum, Julia;
- Meier, Dennis;
- Krohns, Stephan
We report an electric-field poling study of the geometrically-driven improper ferroelectric h-ErMnO3. From a detailed dielectric analysis, we deduce the temperature and the frequency dependent range for which single-crystalline h-ErMnO3 exhibits purely intrinsic dielectric behaviour, i.e., free from the extrinsic so-called Maxwell-Wagner polarisations that arise, for example, from surface barrier layers. In this regime, ferroelectric hysteresis loops as a function of frequency, temperature, and applied electric fields are measured, revealing the theoretically predicted saturation polarisation on the order of 5-6 μC/cm2. Special emphasis is put on frequency dependent polarisation switching, which is explained in terms of domain-wall movement similar to proper ferroelectrics. Controlling the domain walls via electric fields brings us an important step closer to their utilization in domain-wall-based electronics.