Alain Pignolet

Areas of expertise

Ferroic and multifrroic materials , Heterostructures , Nanostructures , Piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM) , Thin Films for Smart Materials

Full Professor
Scientific head of the Advanced Research Unit for Epitaxial Thin Films and Nanostructures of Functional Materials

Phone
514-228-6805

Fax
450-929-8102

Email
alain.pignolet@inrs.ca

Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre

1650 Lionel-Boulet Blvd.
Varennes, Quebec J3X 1P7
Canada

See the research centre

Research interests

Professor Pignolet works in the field of synthesis and characterization of thin films, heterostructures and nanostructures of new functional materials and their potential applications to micro- and nanoelectronics, as well as to generation, conversion and storage. Energy.

He has extensive experience in the fields of thin film deposition and material characterization.

Part of his research focuses on the growth and epitaxy of thin layers and nanostructures of ferroelectric (magnetic, ferroelectric), multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials with a perovskite-like, double-persovskite or perovskite-like crystalline structure, as well as on the study of their structural and functional properties, both global and local.

One aspect of his work concerns the ultra-local characterization of the functional properties of materials by means of local probe microscopy, in particular magnetic force microscopy, Conductive AFM, and Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM).

Biography Ongoing Projets Chairs, Groups, Networks Scientific Activities

Dr. Alain Pignolet is Associate Professor and Director of the Ferroic Lab at INRS – Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommuications since April 2002. With over hundred publications in peer-reviewed journals, 3 book chapters and over 1500 citations, Dr. Pignolet has been on the forefront of research into synthesis and characterization of thin films and nanostructures of advanced functional materialssuch as ferroelectric, ferroic, and multiferroic oxides. He also contributed to the advancement of piezoelectric force microscopy which enables imaging and characterization of the piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties at the nanoscale.

Alain Pignolet earned a Bachelor degree in Engineering Physics and his Ph.D. in Physics from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. Joining the IBM Research Division (Thomas Watson Research Center) as a Post-Doc, he began working on high-permittivity relaxor materials, and moved to the Materials Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, to continue his research, working mainly with Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD), reactive multi-target magnetron and ion-beam sputtering. From October 1994 to December 2001, Dr. Pignolet has hold a Research Staff Position at Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik (Halle/Saale, Germany) setting up a laboratory for deposition of ferroelectric thin films using large area PLD, as well as working on the optimization and better understanding of piezoresponse force microscopy.

Professor Pignolet’s present research interests and ongoing activities include the growth and studies of epitaxial thin films and nanostructures of functional materials such as ferroelectric, multiferroic, magnetic, magneto-optic or magnetoelectric materials for application in micro- and nano-electronics and integrated photonics. He has a particular interest for novel room temperature multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials.

In particular, he has investigated the growth of multiferroic nanocomposite heterostructures, such as epitaxial magnetic g-Fe₂O₃ and ferroelectric BiFeO₃ composite films, as well as epitaxial composites films of magnetic BaFe₁₂0₁₉ and ferroelectric Ba₂LnFeNb₄O₁₅ (Ln = Eu, Nd, Sm). Professor Pignolet’s team was also the first to report the growth and characterization of epitaxial thin films of Bi₂FeCrO₆ (BFCO), a material that had been predicted to be multiferroic by ab-initio calculation but never synthesized. He and his group showed that compressively strained BFCO epitaxial thin films and nanostructures exhibit multiferroic properties at room temperature, exceeding the theoretical predictions.

Similarly, epitaxial strains have also been used to stabilize the metastable epsilon phase of ferrite (ε-Fe₂O₃), a hard magnetic material potentially multiferroic at room temperature, in addition to possess the largest coercive field among oxides and to exhibit a magnetic resonance frequency in the low THz range. ε-Fe₂O₃ epitaxial films therefore exhibit, in a single material, a number of properties of interest for various applications.

Study of ferroelectric thin films and multilayers for novel integrated devices
Single phase and composite epitaxial thin films of multifunctional materials
Composite multiferroic and magnetoelectric thin films
Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites thin films for solar cells stable at ambient
Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), magnetic force microscopy (MFM) and conducting AFM (C-AFM)
[Tip-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) –collaboration with Prof. Andreas Ruediger]
Controlled growth of nanostructures of functional materials synthesized by PLD through nanostrencils

Team:

Ivy Asuo Mawusi, étudiante au doctorat
Hossein Kalhori, étudiant au doctorat
Catalin Harnagea, PhD

Collaborations :

INRS-EMT (Prof. Francois Vidal)
Polytechnique Montréal (Prof. David Ménard, Christina Lacroix,PhD)
McMaster University (Prof. Gianluigi Botton)
ETS-Montreal (Prof. Sylvain G. Cloutier)
University of Warwick (Prof. Marin Alexe)
ICMCB-CNRS / Université de Bordeaux (Dr. Michael Josse, Dr. Mario Maglione)

Member of the FRQNT multidisciplinary évaluation committee NC05: Chemistry, Physics and Materials
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Canadian Fund for Innovation (CFI), Leaders Opportunity Fund with topics related to Materials Science.
Expert/Examiner for the NSERC Discovery Grant Program.
External Examiner for the Ph.D. thesis of Mr. Hao Zhang “Novel Phases on Hetero-Epitaxial and Super-Oxygenated Thin Films of Complex Oxides”, Physics Department, University of Toronto, Avril 2018
External Examiner for the Ph.D. thesis of Mrs. Deepa Singh, Materials Science & Eng. , IIT-Kanpur, India, “Approaches for improving ferroelectric properties of P(VDF-TrFE) for flexible memory devices”, August 2016.
External Examiner for the Ph.D. thesis of Mrs. Olga Chichvarina, Materials Science & Eng., National University of Singapore (NUS) “Study of Structure and Properties of Oxide Electrode Materials (Fe₃O₄, AZO, SRO) and their Device Applications”, Avril 2016.
Associate editor, The European Physical Journal of Applied Physics

Regular Reviewer for:

Applied Physics Letter, Physical review B, Physical Review Letters, Journal of Applied Physics, Applied Physics A, Thin Solid Films, Functional Materials Letters, Microelectronic Engineering, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, Journal of Materials Chemistry C

Publications

(h-index-ISI: 30; 2080 citations w/o self-cit./ h-index-Google Scholar: 32)

Articles Published:

Debika Banerjee, Ivy M. Asuo, Alain Pignolet & Sylvain G. Cloutier, Low-cost photodetector architectures fabricated at room-temperature using nano-engineered silicon wafer and sol-gel TiO2-based heterostructures, Sci Rep9, 17994 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54481-8.

I.M. Asuo, I.Ka, D. Gedamu, A. Pignolet, R. Nechache, and S.G. Cloutier, Tunable thiocyanate-doped perovskite microstructure via water-ethanol additives for stable solar cells at ambient conditions, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 110029 (2019).

I.M. Asuo, P. Fourmont, I.Ka, D. Gedamu, S. Bouzidi, A. Pignolet, R. Nechache, and
S.G. Cloutier, Highly Efficient and Ultrasensitive Large-Area Flexible Photodetector Based on Perovskite Nanowires, Small 15 1804150, (2019), doi: smll.201804150.

A. Carranco-Rodriguez, A. Pofelski, S. Cheng, L. Corbellini, A. Pignolet, P. Long, G.A. Botton, Atomic-resolution Imaging and Spectroscopy of Iron Oxide Epitaxial Thin Films. Microscopy and Microanalysis.24(S1):1614-1615 (2018).

I. Ka, I.M. Asuo,S. Basu, P. Fourmont, D. Gedamu, A. Pignolet, S.G. Cloutier, R. Nechache, Hysteresis-Free 1D Network Mixed Halide-Perovskite Semitransparent Solar Cells, Small 14 1802319 (2018). doi: 10.1002/smll.201802319.

J. Plathier, A. Pignolet, A. Ruediger, Note: Controlling the length of plasmionic tips obtained by pulsed electromechanical etching, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 89 096107 (2018).

I.M. Asuo, D. Gedamu, I. Ka, L.P. Guerlein, F.-X. Fortier, A. Pignolet, S.G. Cloutier,
R. Nechache, High-performance pseudo-halide perovskite nanowire networks for stable and fast-response photodetector, Nano Energy 51 324-332 (2018), doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.06.057.

G. KolhatkarJ. Plathier, A. Pignolet, A. Ruediger, Effect of the Gold Crystallinity on the Enhanced Luminescence Signal of Scanning Probe Tips in Apertureless Near-Field Optical Microscopy, Optics Express 25, 25929-25937 (2017) doi: 10.1039/C7NH00075H.

J. Plathier, A. Krayev, V. Gavrilyuk, A. Pignolet, A. Ruediger, Permittivity imaged at the nanoscale using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, RSC Nanoscale 2, 365-369 (2017), doi: 10.1039/C7NH00075H.

J. Plathier, A. Merlen, A. Pignolet, A. Ruediger, Relation between plasmonic tip emission and electromagnetic enhancement evidenced in Tip Enhanced Raman, published online Oct. 2017, J. Raman Spectrosc. 1–8 (2017), doi: 10.1002/jrs.5260.

L. Corbellini, Ch. Lacroix, D. Ménard, A. Pignolet, The effect of Al substitution on the structural and magnetic properties of epitaxial thin films of Epsilon Ferrite, Scripta Materialia 140, 63-66 (2017); available online http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359646217304062

L. Corbellini, Ch. Lacroix, C. Harnagea, A. Korinek, G.A. Botton, D. Ménard, A. Pignolet, Epitaxially stabilized thin films of ε-Fe2O3(001) on YSZ(100), Sci. Reports 7, 3712 (2017).

T. Hajlaoui, C. Chabanier, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, Epitaxial Ba2NdFeNb4O15-based multiferroic nanocomposite thin films with tetragonal tungsten bronze structure, Scripta Materialia 136, 1–5 (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2017.04.005.

T. Hajlaoui, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, Influence of lanthanide ions on multiferroic properties of Ba2LnFeNb4O15 (Ln = Eu3+, Sm3+ and Nd3+) thin films grown on silicon by pulsed laser deposition, Materials Letters 198, 136–139 (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2017.04.023.

T. Hajlaoui, C. Harnagea, D. Michau, M. Josse, A. Pignolet, Highly oriented multiferroic Ba2NdFeNb4O15-based composite thin films with tetragonal tungsten bronze structure on silicon substrates, Journal of Alloys and Compounds 711, 480-487 (2017).

T. Hajlaoui, L. Corbellini, C. Harnagea, M. Josse, A. Pignolet, Enhanced ferroelectric properties in multiferroic epitaxial Ba2EuFeNb4O15 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition, Materials Research Bulletin 87, 186–192 (2017).

T. Hajlaoui, M. Josse, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, Tetragonal tungsten bronze Ba2EuFeNb4O15–based composite thin films multiferroic at room temperature, Materials Research Bulletin 86, 30–37 (2017). [Also on the cover page of Materials Research Bulletin Volume 86, February 2017]

L. Corbellini, J. Plathier, Ch. Lacroix, C. Harnagea, D. Ménard, A. Pignolet, Hysteresis loops revisited: an efficient method to analyze ferroic materials, J. Appl. Phys. 120, 124101 (2016).

A. Pignolet, News & Views: Ferroelectrics Chaotic Memory, Nature Physics 10, 9-11 (2014).

C. Harnagea, M. Azodi, R. Nechache, C.-V. Cojocaru, V. Buscaglia, M.-T. Buscaglia, P. Nanni, F. Rosei, A. Pignolet, Characterization of individual multifunctional nanoobjects with restricted geometry, Phase Transitions 86, 635-650 (2013), published online Oct 2012.

Lina Gunawan, Guo-Zhen Zhu, Yang Shao, Sorin Lazar, Olivier Gautreau, Catalin Harnagea, Alain Pignolet, Gianluigi A. Botton, Structural investigation of interface and defects in epitaxial Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 film on SrRuO3/SrTiO3 (111) and (100), J. Appl. Phys. 113,044102 (2013).

M. Azodi, C. Harnagea, V. Buscaglia, M.-T. Buscaglia, P. Nanni, F. Rosei, A. Pignolet, Ferroelectric Switching in Bi4Ti3O12 nanorods, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control 59, 1903-1911 (2012).

R. Nechache, C. Nauenheim, U. Lanke, A. Pignolet, F. Rosei and A. Ruediger,Coexistence of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic orders at remanent state in epitaxial multiferroic Bi2FeCrO6 nanostructures, J. Phys. Condensed Matter 24, 142202 (2012). Selected for inclusion in ‘IOP Select’

Riad Nechache, Catalin Harnagea and Alain Pignolet, Multiferroic properties-structure relationships in epitaxial Bi2FeCrO6 thin films: recent developments, J. Phys.: Condensed Matter 24, 096001 (2012). Selected by the editors for inclusion in the ‘Highlights of 2012’ collection.

Jae-Yeol Hwang, Marcello Ferrera, Luca Razzari, Alain Pignolet, and Roberto Morandotti, Response to “Comment on ‘The role of Bi3+ ions in magneto-optic Ce and Bi comodified epitaxial iron garnet films’ ” [Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 126101 (2011)], Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 126102 (2011); doi: 10.1063/1.3610453.

Jae-Yeol Hwang, Roberto Morandotti and Alain Pignolet, Strong Faraday rotation in Ce and Bi comodified epitaxial iron garnet films, Appl. Phys. Lett. 99 051916 (2011); doi: 10.1063/1.3621838.

R. Nechache, C. Harnagea, S. Licoccia, E. Traversa, A. Ruediger, A.Pignolet, F. Rosei, Photovoltaic properties of Bi2FeCrO6 epitaxial thin films, Appl. Phys. Lett. 98202902 (2011); doi:10.1063/1.3590270.

R. Nechache, C.-V. Cojocaru, C. Harnagea, C. Nauenheim, M. Nicklaus, A. Ruediger, F. Rosei, and A. Pignolet, Epitaxial patterning of Bi2FeCrO6 double perovskite nanostructures multiferroic at room temperature, Advanced Materials 23, 1724-29 (2011); doi: 10.1002/adma.201004405.

M. Nicklaus, A. Pignolet, C. Harnagea, A. Ruediger, Noncontact atomic force microscopy imaging of ferroelectric domains with functionalized tips, Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 162901 (2011); doi: 10.1063/1.3579148.

M. Rivard, M. Laliberté, A. Bertrand-Grenier, C. Harnagea, C.P. Pfeffer, M. Vallières. Y. St-Pierre, A. Pignolet, M.A. El Khakani, and F. Légaré, The structural origin of Second Harmonic Generation in fascia, Biomedical Optics Express 2 , 26-36 (2011).

O. Gautreau, C. Harnagea, L. Gunawan, G.A. Botton, L. Pintilie and A. Pignolet, Microstructure and ferroic properties of epitaxial [γ-Fe2O3 – BiFeO3]- Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 composite bilayers, J. Appl. Phys. 108 114111 (August 2010).

Jae-Yeol Hwang, Marcello Ferrera, Luca Razzari, Alain Pignolet, and Roberto Morandotti, The role of Bi3+ ions in magneto-optic Ce and Bi comodified epitaxial iron garnet films, Appl. Phys. Lett. (Sept. 2010), Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 161901 (2010).

Sorin Lazar, Yang Shao, Lina Gunawan, Riad Nechache, Alain Pignolet, Gianluigi A. Botton, Imaging, core-loss and low-loss electron energy loss spectroscopy mapping in aberration-corrected STEM, Microsc. Microanal. 16, 416-424 (2010).

Catalin Harnagea, Martin Vallières, Christian P. Pfeffer, Dong Wu, Bjorn R. Olsen, Alain Pignolet, François Légaré, Alexei Gruverman, Two-dimensional nanoscale structural and functional imaging in single collagen type-I fibrils, Biophysical Journal 98, 3070-3077 (2010).

R. Nechache, C. Harnagea, A. Ruediger, F. Rosei and A. Pignolet, Effect of epitaxial strain on the structural and ferroelectric properties of Bi2FeCrO6 thin films, Functional Materials Letters 3, 83-88 (2010).

A. Achkar P. Jedrzejowski, A. Pignolet, A. Sarkissian, Porous and dense ZnO films produced by femtosecond and picosecond pulsed laser deposition, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials 12 646 – 649 (2010).

C.V. Cojocaru, R. Nechache, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet and F. Rosei, Nanoscale patterning of functional perovskite-type complex oxides by pulsed laser deposition through a nanostencil. Appl. Surf. Sci., 256 4777-4783 (2010).

L. Gunawan, S. Lazar, O. Gautreau, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, and G. A. Botton, Locating La atoms in epitaxial Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 films through atomic resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy mapping, Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 192902 (2009).

Maria Teresa Buscaglia, Catalin Harnagea, Monica Dapiaggi, Vincenzo Buscaglia, Alain Pignolet, and Paolo Nanni, Ferroelectric BaTiO3 nanowires by solid-state reaction, Chem. Mater. 21, 5058-65 (2009).

Manda Chandra Sekhar, Jae-Yeol Hwang, Marcello Ferrera, Yoav Linzon, Luca Razzari, Catalin Harnagea, Michael Zaezjev, Alain Pignolet and Roberto Morandotti, Strong enhancement of the Faraday rotation in Ce and Bi co-modified epitaxial iron garnet thin films, Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 181916 (2009).

F. Rosei, A. Pignolet, T. Johnston, How to Survive in Materials Science – I: Developing a graduate course on Survival Skills for Scientists, J. Materials Education 31, 65-80 (2009).

O. Gautreau, C. Harnagea1, L. Gunawan, R. Nechache, M. P. Singh, P. Fournier, G. A. Botton, and A. Pignolet, Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Magnetic Force Microscopy Characterization of γ-Fe2O3 – BiFeO3 Nanocomposite / Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 Multiferroic Bilayers, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 321, 1799-1802 (2009) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2009.02.009

R. Nechache, C. Harnagea, L.-P. Carignan, O. Gautreau, L. Pintilie, M. P. Singh, D. Ménard, P. Fournier, M. Alexe, and A. Pignolet, Pressure-temperature phase diagram for thin films of the Bi-Fe-Cr-O system:Epitaxial films of the pure Bi2FeCrO6 double perovskite phase, J. Appl. Phys. 105, 061621 (2009) [“ISIF2008 Special Issue”]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3073826

Y. Linzon, M. Ferrera, L. Razzari, A. Pignolet, and R. Morandotti, Polarization proximity effect in isolator crystal pairs, Optics Letters 33, 71-73 (2008). http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.33.002871

L. Gunawan, O. Gautreau, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, and G.A. Botton,Direct Structural Investigation of Bi3.25La 0.75Ti3O12 thin films on SrRuO3/(111)SrTiO3, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 14 (Suppl. 2) 428-429 (2008).

R. Nechache, C. Harnagea, L.-P. Carignan, D. Ménard, and A. Pignole, Structure and Properties of Epitaxial Thin Films of Bi2FeCrO6: a Multiferroic Material postulated by ab-initio Computation, Integrated Ferroelectrics 101, 152-163 (2008).

O. Gautreau, C. Harnagea, F. Normandin, T. Veres,L. Pintilie, M. Alexe, L. Gunawan, G.A. Botton, and A. Pignolet Structural and multiferroic properties of epitaxial BiFeO3–γ-Fe2O3/Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 bi-layers, J. Phys. D 41, 112002 (2008) [Rapid Communication].

S. Kamba, D. Nuzhnyy,1 R. Nechache, K. Závěta, D. Nižňanský, E. Šantavá,C. Harnagea, and A. Pignolet, Infrared and magnetic characterization of multiferroic Bi2FeCrO6 thin films over a broad temperature range, Phys. Rev. B 77, 104111 (2008).

F. Cicoira, C. Santato, A. Dadvand, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, P. Bellutti, Z. Xiang, F. Rosei, H. Meng and D. F. Perepichka, Environmentally stable Light Emitting Field Effect Transistors based on 2-(4-pentylstyryl)tetracene, J. Mater. Chem., 18, 158 – 161 (2008) [Communication].

C. Harnagea, C.-V. Cojocaru, R. Nechache, O. Gautreau, F. Rosei, and A. Pignolet, Towards ferroelectric and multiferroic nanostructures and their characterization. Int. J. Nanotechnology 5, (vol. 9-12: special issue on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Canada), 930-963 (2008).

R. Nechache, C. Harnagea, L. Gunawan, L.-P. Carignan, C. Maunders, D. Ménard, G. A. Botton, and A. Pignolet Growth, Structure and Properties of BiFeO3-BiCrO3 Films obtained by Dual Cross Beam PLD, IEEE Transcations of Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control 54, 2645-2652 (2007).

R. Nechache, P. Gupta, C. Harnagea, and A. Pignolet., Enhanced magnetism in epitaxial BiFeO3/BiCrO3 multiferroic heterostructures, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 222908 (2007).

R. Nechache, L.-P. Carignan, L. Gunawan, C. Harnagea, G. Botton, D. Ménard and A. Pignolet, Epitaxial thin films of multiferroic Bi2FeCrO6. with B-site cationic order, J. Mater. Res. 22(8: focused issue on Multiferroics), 2102-2110, (2007).

R. Nechache, C. Harnagea,L.-P. Carignan, D. Ménard and A. Pignolet, Epitaxial Multiferroic Bi2FeCrO6.Thin Films. Phil. Mag. Lett. 87, 231-40 (2007).

O. Gautreau, C. Harnagea, F. Normandin, T. Veres, A. Pignolet, Room Temperature Pulsed Laser Deposited Thin SrRuO3 Films, Thin Solid Films 515, 4580-4587 (2007).

C. Harnagea, C.V. Cojocaru, O. Gautreau, F. Rosei and A. Pignolet, Ferroelectric mesoscopic structures by room-temperature PLD, accepted for publication in Proc. 8th Conference on Laser Ablation – COLA 2005, September 11-16, 2005, Banff, Canada, J. Phys. Conf. Series 59, 636-639 (2007).

R. Nechache, C. Harnagea,A. Pignolet, L.-P. Carignan, and D. Ménard, Growth, structure and multiferroic properties of epitaxial Bi2FeCrO6 thin films, Proceedings Cansmart 2006 International Workshop, Ocober 12-13, 2006, Toronto, ON, Canada.

R. Nechache, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, F. Normandin, T. Veres, L.-P. Carignan, and D. Ménard, Growth, Structure and Properties of Epitaxial Thin Films of First Principles Predicted Multiferroic Bi2FeCrO6, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 102902 (2006).

C. Harnagea,A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, D. Hesse, Higher-order electromechanical response of thin films by contact resonance piezoresponse force microscopy, IEEE Transcations of Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control 53, 2309-2322 (2006). [invited paper in a special issue on ‘Nanoscale Ferroelectrics’]

C. Harnagea, C.V. Cojocaru, A. Pignolet, Local ferroelectric switching properties in BiFeO3 micro-structures and their piezomagnetic response, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 902E , T10-57.1 (2006).

C.-V. Cojocaru, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet and F. Rosei, Nanostenciling of Functional Materials by Room Temperature Pulsed Laser Deposition, IEEE-Trans. on Nannotechnology 5, 470-477 (2006).

C. Harnagea, C.V. Cojocaru, O. Gautreau, R. Nechache, F. Normandin, T. Veres, and A. Pignolet, Piezoresponse Force Microscopy of PLD-grown Multiferroic BiFeO3 Films and Mesostructures, Integrated Ferroelectrics 83, 1-12 (2006).

C.-V. Cojocaru, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet and F. Rosei, Patterning of Functional Materials by Pulsed Laser Deposition through Nanostencils, Proceedings of NanoSingapore 2006: IEEE Conference on Emerging Technologies – Nanoelectronics.

C.-V. Cojocaru, F. Ratto, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, F. Rosei, Semiconductor and insulator nanostructures: Challenges and opportunities, Microelectron. Eng. 80, 448-456 (2005).

C.-V. Cojocaru, C. Harnagea, F. Rosei, A. Pignolet, M.A.F. Van den Boogaart, J. Brugger, Nanostructured Complex Oxides by Pulsed Laser Deposition through Nanostencil, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 183107 (2005).

C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, and D. Hesse, Possibilities and limitations of voltage-modulated force microscopy: Resonances in contact mode, Integrated Ferroelectrics 60, 101-110 (2004).

C. Harnagea, M. Alexe, D. Hesse, and A. Pignolet, Contact Resonances in Voltage-Modulated Force Microscopy, Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 338-340 (2003).

A. Visinoiu, M. Alexe, H.N.Lee, N.D. Zakharov, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse and U. Gösele, Combined AFM, XTEM and XRD investigation of the initial growth stages of epitaxial BaTiO3 films on vicinal SrTiO3 (001) substrate surfaces, J. Appl. Phys. 91, 10157 (2002).

A. Visinoiu, M. Alexe, H.N.Lee, N.D. Zakharov, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse and U. Gösele, Initial growth stages of epitaxial BaTiO3 films on vivinal SrTiO3:Nb (001) substrates, Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 688, (Ferroelectric Thin films X, edited by S.R. Gilbert, Y. Miyasaka, D. Wouters, S. Trolier-McKinstry, S.K. Streiffer) C8.4 (2002).

G. Woltersdorf, G. Seifert, H. Graener, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, Nonlinear optical probing of nanocrystalline orientation in epitaxial ferroelectric thin films, J. Appl. Phys.91, 362 (2002).

C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe and D. Hesse, Piezoresponse scanning force microscopy: What quantitative information can we really get out of piezoresponse measurements on ferroelectric thin films?”, Integrated Ferroelectrics 44,113-124 (2002).

H.N. Lee, D.N. Zakharov, S. Senz, A. Pignolet, and D. Hesse, Eitaxial growth of ferroelectric SrBi2Ta2O9 thin films of mixed (100) and (116) orientation on SrLaGaO4 (110), Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 2961-3 (2001).

H.N. Lee, D. N. Zakharov, S. Senz, A. Pignolet, and D. Hesse, Growth and characterization of non-c-axis-oriented SrBi2Ta2O9 epitaxial thin films on Si(100) substrates with SrRuO3 bottom electrodes, Integr. Ferroelec. 39 1023-1030 (2001).

H.N. Lee, A. Pignolet, S. Senz, C. Harnagea and D. Hesse, Direct comparison of structural and electrical properties of epitaxial (001)-, (116)-, and (103)-oriented SrBi2Ta2O9 thin films on SrTiO3 and silicon substrates,Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 655, (Ferroelectric Thin films IX, edited by P.C.McIntyre, S.R.Gilbert, Y.Miyasaka, R.W.Schwartz, and D.Wouters) pp. CC5.3.1 – CC5.3.1.6 (2001).

H. N. Lee, S. Senz, A. Pignolet, and D. Hesse, Epitaxial growth of (103)-oriented ferroelectric SrBi2Ta2O9 thin films on Si(100), Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 2922-4 (2001).

H.N. Lee, S.Senz, A. Pignolet, and D.Hesse, Epitaxial growth of non-c-axis-oriented ferroelectric SrBi2Ta2O9 thin films on SrTiO3 substrates, Journal of the European Ceramic Society 21, 1565-68 (2001).

A. Pignolet, C. Harnagea, H.N. Lee, A. Visinoiu, S. Senz, and D. Hesse, Ferroelctricity in epitaxial pulsed laser deposited bismuth-layered perovskite thin films of different crystallo-graphic orientations, Ferroelectrics 258, 197-208 (2001).

M.Alexe, C. Harnagea, A. Visinoiu, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Patterning and switching of nano-size ferroelectic memory cells, Scripta Materialia 44, 1175-79 (2001).

D. Hesse, H. N. Lee, A. Pignolet, N.D. Zakharov, C. Harnagea, and S. Senz, Microstructure and properties of epitaxial ferroelectric bismuth-layered perovskite thin films grown on Si(100) with a polarization component perpendicular to the film plane, Proc. 12th IEEE Int. Symp. on Applications of Ferroelectrics (ISAF-2000), 21.7.- 2.8.2000, Honolulu/Hawaii, USA. Edited by S.K. Streiffer, B.J. Gibbons, and T. Tsurumi. IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society, Piscataway, NJ, 2001. Vol. 1, pp. 181-184.

H.N. Lee, S. Senz, N.D. Zakharov, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Growth and characterization of non-c-oriented epitaxial ferroelectric SrBi2Ta2O9 films on buffered Si(100), Appl. Phys. Lett., 77 3260 ( 2000).

D. Hesse, N. D. Zakharov, A. Pignolet, A. R .James, and S. Senz, TEM cross-section investigations of epitaxial Ba2Bi4Ti5O18 thin films on LaNiO3 bottom electrodes on CeO2/YSZ-buffered Si(100), Crys. Res. Technol. 35, 641–651, (2000) (Heydenreich-Band).

R.K. Soni, A. Dixit, R.S. Katiyar, A. Pignolet, K.M. Satyalakshmi, and D. Hesse, Light scattering from pulsed laser deposited BaBi4Ti4O15 thin films, Proc. Mater. Res. Soc. 263, 167–172 (2000).

N.D. Zakharov, A. R. James, A. Pignolet, S. Senz, and D. Hesse, Lattice defects in epitaxial Ba2Bi4Ti5O18 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition onto LaNiO3 bottom electrodes, Proc. Mater. Res. Soc. 263, 173-178 (2000).

A. Pignolet, and M. Alexe, Nanostructured arrays maintain long memories, Vacuum Solutions 16, 21-25 (Issue July/August 2000).

H.N. Lee, A. Visinoiu, S. Senz, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Structural and electrical anisotropy of (001)-, (116)- and (103)-oriented SrBi2Ta2O9 thin films on SrTiO3 substrates grown by pulsed laser deposition, J. Appl. Phys. 88 6658-6664 (2000).

H.N. Lee, S. Senz, A. Visinoiu, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, U. Gösele, Epitaxial growth of non-c-oriented ferroelectric SrBi2Ta2O9 thin films on Si(100) substrates, Applied Physics A 71, 101-104 (2000).

A. Pignolet, C. Harnagea, A. R. James, S. Senz, N. D. Zakharov, D. Hesse, Structure-property relationships of thin films of epitaxial ferroelectric bismuth-layered perovskites with even and odd Aurivillius parameters, Proc. Mater. Res. Soc. 596, 415 – 426 (2000).

C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Domain imaging, polarization hysteresis and switching in nano-size ferroelectric structures, Proc. Mater. Res. Soc. 596, 351 – 356 (2000).

A.R. James, A. Pignolet, S, Senz, N. D. Zakharov, and D. Hesse, Growth and characterization of epitaxial Ba2Bi4Ti5O18 films deposited by pulsed laser ablation, Solid State Commun. 114, 249-253 (2000).

A.R. James, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and U.Gösele, Structural and electrical characterization of epitaxial large area ferroelectric films of Ba2Bi4Ti5O18 grown by pulsed eximer laser ablation, J. Appl. Phys. 87, 2825-2829 (2000).

A. Gruverman, A. Pignolet, K. M. Satyalakshmi, M. Alexe, N. D. Zakharov, and D. Hesse Nanoscopic switching behavior of epitaxial SrBi2Ta2O9 films deposited by pulsed laser deposition, Appl. Phys. Lett. 76 106-108 (2000).

C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Quantitative ferroelectric characterization of single submicron grains in bismuth-layered preovskite thin films, Applied Physics A 70, 261-267 (2000).

A. Pignolet, C. Schäfer, K.M. Satyalakshmi, C. Harnagea, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele Orientation dependence of ferroelectricity in pulsed laser deposited epitaxial bismuth-layered perovskite thin films, Applied Physics A 70, 283-291 (2000).

C. Harnagea, M. Alexe, A. Pignolet, K. M. Satyalakshmi, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele Switching of ferroelectric nanostructures, Piezoelectric Materials: Advances in Science, Technology and Applications (Proc. NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Predeal/Romania, May 24-26, 1999) edited by C.Galassi, M.Dinescu, K.Uchino, and

M. Sayer (NATO Science Series No.3 – High Technology, vol. 76). Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp.169-177, 2000.

M. Alexe, C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele Nano-size ferroelectric structures, Piezoelectric Materials: Advances in Science, Technology and Applications (Proc. NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Predeal/Romania, May 24-26, 1999) edited by C.Galassi, M.Dinescu, K.Uchino, and M.Sayer (NATO Science Series No.3 – High Technology, vol. 76). Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp.49-57, 2000.

M. Alexe, A. Gruverman, C. Harnagea, N.D. Zakharov, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and J.F. Scott, Switching properties of self-assembled ferroelectric memory cells, Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 1158-1160 (1999).

C. Harnagea, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, K. M. Satyalakshmi, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele Nanoscale switching and domain structure of ferroelectric BaBi4Ti4O15 thin films, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Part 2: 38(11A), L1255-L1257 (1999).

A. Gruverman, K. Hironaka, Y. Ikeda, K.M. Satyalakshmi, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, N.D. Zakharov, and D. Hesse, SFM Characterization of SrBi2Ta2O9 thin films for nanoscale memory applications (Proc. ISIF 99, Colorado Springs, March 7-10, 1999), Integrated Ferroelectrics 27, 159-169 (1999).

M. Alexe, S. Senz, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele,Direct wafer bonding and layer transfer for ferroelectric film integration, (Proc. ISIF 99, Colorado Springs, March 7-10, 1999), Integrated Ferroelectrics 27, 205-211 (1999).

A. Pignolet, K. . Satyalakshmi, M. Alexe, N.D. Zakharov, C. Harnagea, S. Senz, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Epitaxial bismuth-layer-structured perovskite ferroelectric thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition, (Proc. ISIF 99, Colorado Springs, March 7-10, 1999), Integrated Ferroelectrics 26, 723-731 (1999).

J. Zeng, L. Zheng, C. Lin, M. Alexe, A. Pignolet and D. Hesse, The structural and electric behavior of SrBi2Ta2O9 ferroelectric thin films with H+ implantation, Phys. Lett. A 251, 336-339 (1999).

M. Alexe, S. Senz, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Direct wafer bonding and layer transfer – a new approach to integration of ferroelectric oxides into silicon technology (Proc. AMF-2, Singapore, December 7 – 11, 1998) Ferroelectrics 231, 169-178 (1999).

K.M. Satyalakshmi, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, N.D. Zakharov, C. Harnagea, S. Senz, S. Reichelt, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele All epitaxial BaBi4Ti4O15 – LaNiO3 heterostructures, Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 541 (Ferroelectric thin films VII), 205-210 (1999).

M. Alexe, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Structural and electrical properties of metal-ferroelectric-silicon heterostructures made by direct wafer bonding and layer transfer process (Proc. ECAPD IV, Montreux, Switzerland, August 24-27, 1998) Ferroelectrics 225, 75–82 (1999).

A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, K. M. Satyalakshmi, S. Senz, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Epitaxial Bi-layered perovskite ferroelectric thin film heterostructures by large area pulsed laser deposition (Proc. ECAPD IV, Montreux, Switzerland, August 24-27, 1998), Ferroelectrics 225, 201-220 (1999).

K. M. Satyalakshmi, M. Alexe, A. Pignolet, N.D. Zakharov, C. Harnagea S. Senz, and D. Hesse,BaBi4Ti4O15 ferroelectric thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition, Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 603-605 (1999).

J. Zeng, C. Lin, L. Zheng, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, E. Richter, and D. Hesse, Effect of H+ and O+ implantation on electrical properties of SrBi2Ta2O9 ferroelectric thin films (Proc. 1998 E-MRS Spring Meeting) Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. B 147, 207-211 (1999).

J.F. Scott, M. Alexe, N.D. Zakharov, A. Pignolet, C. Curran, and D. Hesse, Nano-Phase SBT-family Ferroelectric Memories, Integrated Ferroelectrics 21, 1-14 (1998).

L. Pintilie, M. Alexe, A. Pignolet, and D. Hesse, Bi4Ti3O12 ferroelectric thin film ultra violet detectors, Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 342 (1998).

M. Alexe, J. F. Scott, C. Curran, N. D. Zakharov, D. Hesse, and A. Pignolet, Self-patterning nano-electrodes on ferroelectric thin films for Gigabit memory applications, Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 1592 (1998).

A. Pignolet, C. Curran, M. Alexe, S. Senz, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Epitaxial and large area PLD ferroelectric thin film heterostructures on silicon substrates, Integrated Ferroelectrics 21, 485-498 (1998).

A. Pignolet, C. Curran, S. Welke, M. Alexe, S. Senz, D. Hesse, U. Gösele, Epitaxial ferroelectric thin films of Bi-layered perovskites on silicon-based epitaxial oxide heterostructures by large area pulsed laser deposition, Proc. 11th Int. Conf. on Ternary and Multinary Compounds (ICTMC-11) Inst. Phys. Conf. Ser. No 152, 209 (1998).

A. Pignolet, C. Curran, S. Welke, M. Alexe, S. Senz, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Large area pulsed laser deposited ferroelectric thin films of epitaxial Bi-layered perovskites on silicon, J. Phys. IV 8, 251-254 (1998).

M. Alexe, R. Scholz, G. Kästner, A. Pignolet, U. Gösele, Direct wafer bonding: A new method for ferroelectric-silicon heterostructure fabrication, J. Phys. IV 8, 239-242 (1998).

L. Pintilie, M. Alexe, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse, Photoelectric effects in chemical solution deposited Bi4Ti3O12 thin films, J. Phys. IV 8, 101-104 (1998).

P. Yang, L. Zheng, C. Lin, A. Pignolet, C. Curran., M. Alexe and D. Hesse, Pulsed laser deposition and characteristics of SrBi2Ta2O9 thin films, Journal of the Korean Physical Society 32, S1383 (1998).

A. Pignolet, S. Welke, C. Curran, S. Senz, D. Hesse, Large area pulsed laser deposition of Bi-layered ferroelectric thin films, Journal of the Korean Physical Society 32, S1476 (1998).

M. Alexe, A. Pignolet, S. Senz, D. Hesse, U. Gösele, Direct wafer bonding: A new method for ferroelectric-silicon heterostructure fabrication, Journal of the Korean Physical Society 32, S1618 (1998).

M. Alexe,, J.F. Scott, A. Pignolet, D. Hesse and U. Gösele, Pb(Zr,Ti)03-silicon heterostructures fabricated by direct wafer bonding, Integrated Ferroelectrics19, 95 (1998).

M. Alexe, S. Senz, A. Pignolet, J. F. Scott, D. Hesse, and U. Gösele, Direct wafer bonding and layer transfer: An innovative way for the integration of ferroelectric oxides into silicon technology, Proc. Mat. Res. Soc. 493 (Ferroelectric Thin Films VI), 517-522 (1997).

C. Curran, S. Senz, A. Pignolet, M. Alexe, S. Welke, and D. Hesse, Epitaxial ferroelectric Aurivillius-type phases on metallic oxides by pulsed laser deposition, Proc. Mat. Res. Soc. 474, 15 (1997).

M. Alexe, A. Pignolet, S. Senz, and D. Hesse, Physical properties of spin-on solution deposited Bi4Ti3O12 thin films on Si substrates, Ferroelectrics 201, 157 (1997).

A. Pignolet, S. Welke, C. Curran, M. Alexe, S. Senz, and D. Hesse Large area pulsed laser deposition of Aurivillius-type layered perovskite thin films, Ferroelectrics 202, 285 (1997).

M. Alexe, L. Pintilie, I. Pintilie, A. Pignolet, S. Senz, and D. Hesse, Photoelectric properties of PbTiO3 / Si heterostructures, Proc. Mat. Res. Soc. 433 425 (Ferroelectric Thin Films V) (1996).

A. Pignolet, C. Curran, S. Welke, S. Senz, M. Alexe, D. Hesse and U. Gösele, Large area pulsed laser deposition of Aurivillius-type layered perovskite thin films, Proc. Mat. Res. Soc. 433, 125 (Ferroelectric Thin Films V) (1996).

A. Pignolet, G. Mohan Rao, and S. B. Krupanidhi, Rapid thermal processed thin films of niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering”, Thin Solid Films 261, 18 (1995).

A. Pignolet, G. Mohan Rao, and S. B. Krupanidhi, Rapid thermal processed thin films of Ta2O5, Thin Solid Films258, 230 (1995).

S.B. Krupanidhi, and A. Pignolet, Pulsed laser deposition of PMN-PT relaxors thin films, Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Integrated Ferroelectrics, Monterey, CA, 1994.

A. Pignolet, R. A. Roy, J. P. Doyle, and J. J. Cuomo, Model of lead loss in Pb(MgxNb1‑x)Oz ion beam sputtered thin films, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A12, 2840 (1994).

I. Taguchi, A. Pignolet, L. Wang, M. Proctor, F. Lévy, and P.E. Schmid, Raman scattering of lead zirconate titanate thin films prepared on silicon substrate by radio frequency magnetron sputtering, J. Appl. Phys.74, 6625 (1993).

I. Taguchi, A. Pignolet, L. Wang, M. Proctor, F. Lévy, and P.E. Schmid, Raman scattering from PbTiO3 thin films prepared on silicon substrate by radio frequency sputtering and thermal treatment, J. Appl. Phys.73, 394 (1993).

A. Pignolet, L. Wang, P.E. Schmid, J. Pavel, F. Lévy, Pyroelectricity in (Pb0.98Mn0.02)(Zr0.6Ti0.4)O3 sputtered thin films, Ferroelectrics128, 37 (1992): Proccedings of EMF‑7, Dijon, 1991.

A. Pignolet, P.E. Schmid, L. Wang, F. Lévy, “Structure and Characterization of sputtered thin films based on lead titanate.”, Proceedings of the Materials Research Society 230, 291 (1992).

J. Krempaský, L. Wang, M. Proctor, A. Pignolet, F. Lévy, “Optical properties of PZT and PMZT sputtered thin films.”, Solid State Commun. 78, 1039 (1991).

A. Pignolet, P.E. Schmid, L. Wang, F. Lévy, “Structure and electrical properties of sputtered lead titanate thin films.”, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 24, 619 (1991).

L. Wang, A. Pignolet, F. Lévy,“Properties of Pb(ZrxT1‑x)O3 thin films prepared by r.f. magnetron sputtering and heat treatement.”, Mat. Res. Bul. 25, 12 (1990).

Recent Proceedings

M. Azodi, C. Harnagea, V. Buscaglia, M.T. Buscaglia, P. Nanni, , F. Rosei,A. PignoletFerroelectricity in Bi4Ti3O12 nanorods, Proc IEEE International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics / International Symposium on Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Nanoscale Phenomena in Polar Materials (ISAF PFM 2012), Vancouver, BC, Canada, July 24 – 27 2011.

Book chapters

Catalin Harnagea and Alain Pignolet, Probing local ferroelectricity using scanning probe microscopy: application to bismuth ferrite, published in New developments in advanced functional ceramics, Editor: L. Mitoseriu, Indian Series of Appl. Phys., Trivandrum, Transworld Research Network, Kerala, India, ISBN: 81-7895-248-3.

C. Harnagea and A. Pignolet, Piezoresponse scanning force microscopy, in Science, Technology and Education of Microscopy: An Overview, Editor: A. Méndez-Vilas, Formatex 2005, ISBN 84-609-6605-4.

C. Harnagea and A. Pignolet, Challenges in the analysis of the local piezoelectric response, published in: Nanoscale characterization of ferroelectric materials, Editors: A. Gruverman and M. Alexe, Springer-Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-540-20662-0.