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COMSOL-Based Numerical Analysis of The

Electric Field Distribution during Electrospinning
And Piezo-Response Imaging of Ultra-Fine Lead
Zirconate Titanate Fibers

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 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2007, Boston

COMSOL-Based Numerical Analysis of The Electric Field

Distribution during Electrospinning And Piezo-Response Imaging
of Ultra-Fine Lead Zirconate Titanate Fibers
Yu Wang * and Jorge Santiago-Avilés
Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
*Corresponding author: 200 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104; wangyu@seas.upenn.edu

Abstract: Electrospinning has recently been
revitalized to fabricate nanoscopic fibers. We
synthesized micro- and nano- scopic lead
zirconate titanate (PZT) fibers using
electrospinning and characterized them using the
piezo-response imaging (PRI) technique
originally developed for the characterization of
piezoelectric thin films. As both electrospinning
and PRI work by virtue of electric field, the
desired spatial distribution of their electric
potential and field is numerically solved under
our typical conditions using the finite element
analysis tool embedded in FEMLAB (now
COSMOL). The solutions indicate that both
electrospinning and PRI electric field is
concentrated around the positively-biased metal
tip and evolves into a low field toward the
grounded metal. The PRI field peaks at the
contact point of the vertical metal tip and
horizontal PZT fiber and its maximum value is
higher on the fiber than on a thin film with the
same vertical dimension. Because strong PRI
field exists only in a thin surface region
immediately below the PZT fiber surface, an
externally applied local field of 108V/m on the
surface region does not switch the polarization of
the affected domain.
in Figure 1a [2-5]. During the electrospinning, a
fine jet is drawn from the Taylor cone [6] of
precursor solution by the electrostatic force. Due
to the elongation of the jet and the evaporation of
the volatile solvent in the jet, ultra-fine fibers are
deposited on the grounded metal screen.
Obviously, the electric field distribution play a
very important role in the electrospinning
process, and it has been numerically analyzed by
quite a few groups [7-9]. Their results indicate
that the potential (u) and field (E) distribution
depends specifically on the setup configuration
and operating conditions to a large degree. This
report analyzes the distribution in our setup
under its typical operating conditions.
(a) Precursor
solution Filter
Metal tip
Syringe High voltage
Stationary
source
collector screen

Keywords: electrospinning, piezo-response

imaging, electric field, numerical solution, finite (b)
element analysis, FEMLAB/COMSOL.

1. Introduction

Nanofibers exhibit the lowest dimensionality

for efficient transport of electrons and optical
excitations and can be used as building blocks in
bottom-up assembly for fabrication of novel
nano- electronic and photonic devices.
Electrostatic generation (or electrospinning), a
technology patented in 1930’s [1], has recently
been revitalized to fabricate ultra-fine fibers. We
synthesized lead zirconate titanate (PZT), carbon Figure 1. (a) schematics of our electrospinning setup and
and tin oxide nanofibers using the electro- (b) geometric configuration of the problem
spinning method and self-designed setup shown
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2007, Boston
On the other hand, it has been a challenge for
us to evaluate the ferroelectric properties of our
ultra-fine electrospun PZT fibers. Usually PZT is
evaluated as dielectric media in a sandwiched
metal/PZT/metal capacitor [10]. Such evaluation
does not work for a single PZT fiber with
diameter less than 10µm because its capacitance,
estimated to be around 10-13 F supposing the
same diameter and length, is less than parasitic
capacitance in a conventional measuring circuit
by several orders of magnitude. Recently piezo-
responsing imaging (PRI) has been developed to
probe the spontaneous polarization domains in
ferroelectric thin films such as PZT thin film,
measure their properties in a small scale and to
correlate domain polarization and local
properties directly with topography and
morphology in micro- or nano- scale [11-13].
PRI also makes use of a sandwiched
structure from the conductive scanning probe
microscope (SPM) tip / PZT fiber / bottom metal
contact, where the SPM tip acts as the top
electrode that can be precisely positioned and
moved in a program-controlled way (Figure 2).
DC and AC voltages (VDC and VACcos(ωt)) can
also be applied simultaneously between the tip
and the grounded bottom metal on the substrate,
Vtip = VDC + VACcos(ωt), (1)
set up electric field, and induce piezoelectric
oscillation (δ) on PZT surface
δ=δ0+δ1cos(ωt+φ1)+ δ2cos(2ωt+φ2)+······, (2)
which is actually detected by SPM in the
dynamic mode as a voltage signal (V)
V=V0+V1cos(ωt+ϕ1)+V2cos(2ωt+ϕ2) +······, (3)
where the subscript i (=0, 1, 2, …) stands for the
i-th harmonic component, φi-ϕi is the i-th
harmonic phase shift of the SPM detecting
system, phase φ1=0 and π for up and down
direction of the polarization vector (P) in the
local domain. Of the harmonic components of
various orders, the DC or static component (δ0 or
V0) reflects the surface topography if VDC =0; the
1st harmonic component reflects local
piezoelectric properties
δ1 = d33·VAC, (4)
where d33 is the local piezoelectric constant. V1,
δ1 and d33 are proportional to the magnitude of
polarization (P) and their sign reflect the P
direction. With VDC=0, P is spontaneous
polarization Ps. If VDC is additionally swept and
d33 is measured, the local piezoelectric (d33 vs
VDC) curve or can be plotted for each tip position
[12, 13]. The curve becomes a local hysteresis
loop if P is switched during a cyclic change of
VDC as 0V → Vmax → –Vmax → 0V.
(a)
tip
Imaginary sphere
PZT fiber
Grounded bottom metal
(b) z
tip
PZT fiber
R
1
b
a
d
x
Grounded bottom metal
Figure 2. (a) 3D geometric model of the PRI problem
and (b) cross-section of the tip and the fiber
Meanwhile, the interaction between the PRI
tip and PZT thin film has been analyzed or
modeled in three ways [12]: (1) the layer
capacitor model, in which the tip and the sample
with the bottom electrode are modeled as a
capacitor; (2) the method of image charges,
which approximates the tip as a conductive
sphere and solves the “conductive sphere-
dielectric layer-conductive plane” using the
image charge method; and (3) the finite element
analysis (FEA), which is universal and robust. In
these cases, there exists approximate azimuthally
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2007, Boston
symmetry and the problem can be reduced into
two dimension (2D) [14].
We applied PRI to microfiber and used it to
reveal spontaneous polarization domains with
our electrospun PZT microfibers [2]. However,
the electrostatic interaction between the PRI tip
and PZT fiber has not been fully understood
except that the replacement of a thin film by a
fiber breaks the azimuthally symmetry and the
problem can not be reduced to 2D anymore. This
paper also analyzes the PRI electric field
distribution in three dimensions (3D) and
hopefully helps to understand our PRI and local
measurement results better.
2. Mathematical Models and Equations
The potential distribution between the
electrospinning tip and the grounded collecting
metal and between the PRI tip and ground
bottom metal can be described by the same
Laplace equation
∇2u=0, (5)
with Dirichelet boundary conditions,
u = V a, (6a)
u = 0, (6b)
u = 0, (6c)
on the electrospinning/PRI tip, on the grounded
metal, and at infinity, respectively. Such partial
differential equation (PDE) problem is not
analytically soluble. We solved it numerically
using the FEA method. Since FEA requires a
finite boundary and only the field between the tip
and the grounded metal is important for us, we
introduce an imaginary spherical boundary
centered at the tip end and with radium of 10d,
where d is the distance between the tip apex and
the grounded metal (Figures 1b and 2b). On such
remote spherical surface, the equi-potentials are
already near perfectly radial, so a von Neumann
boundary condition,
∂u
= 0, (6c’)
∂n
representing an arc-shaped force line, can replace
Eq. (6c).
In our electrospinning setup, the metal tip is
perpendicular to the grounded metal. The
configuration has azimuthal symmetry and the
problem can be reduced into 2D (Figure 1b).
That is not the case for PRI, however, and the
problem has to be solved in 3D. The PRI tip is
closely approximated as an infinite rounded cone
with its full cone angle=20°, apex radius of
curvature r =1 unit (=35nm for the PRI case) and
infinite conductivity. The tip rests on the top
surface of PZT fiber, which lies on the bottom
metal over a small area rather than only a
tangential line. To the first-order approximation
of our previously measured SPM topography
results [3], the cross-section of the fiber is an
ellipse, with its semi-major axis a and semi-
minor axis b, respectively. Obviously, 2b ≥ d
(Figure 2b). Additionally we set up spherical
coordinate system with the tip cone axis as its z-
axis and set the relative dielectric constant of
PZT fiber to be 100. Finally, Eq. (5), with Eqs.
(6a), (6b) and (6c’), was solved using the FEA
tool embedded in FEMLAB.
3. Numerical Analysis Results
3.1 Electric potential and field distribution
during electrospinning
Figure 3a shows the u and E distribution in
2D during electrospinning; Figures 3b and 3c
show u and E between the tip and the grounded
metal, respectively. It can be seen that the
potential decreases rapidly in the vicinity of the
tip and tends to diminish linearly with the
distance toward the metal. The decrease rate is
higher when d is smaller. Correspondingly, the
field is very high in the neighborhood around the
tip and levels off sharply to almost constant
values when close to the metal. Overall, the
smaller d, the higher field.
3.2 Electric potential and field distribution
during piezoresponse imaging
Figure 4 presents the u and E distribution for
a=7, b=5.25 and d=10. For comparison, the
distribution for a thin film case with thickness
d=10 is also shown. In both cases, the field is
concentrated in the small region immediately
below the tip/fiber contact. The concentration is
higher within the fiber than within the thin film.
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2007, Boston

(a) (b) (c)

E(V/cm)
u/Va
Figure 3. (a) Potential and field distribution during electrospinning (The arrows represent negative electric field
distribution), (b) u and (c) E distribution along z-axis between the tip and the grounded metal.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 4. Potential and field distribution (a) in 3D, on the cross-section (b) parallel and (c) perpendicular to the PZT
fiber axis, and (d) on the cross-section of a PZT thin film. (The arrows represent negative electric field distribution.)

Figure 5 shows the effect of the elliptic
cross-section shape (the b/a ratio) on the u and E
distribution along the z-axis between the tip and
the bottom metal with d=10, b=5.25 and a = 4, 5,
7 and ∞ (thin film). Both u and E have similar
distribution for different b/a ratios. However, the
higher b/a ratio, the stronger peak field at the
apex, although the difference is small. The peak
field for fibers is more than twice as for the thin
film. However, the field is higher in thin film
than in fiber beyond d/10 below the fiber surface.
Figure 6 shows the effect of the cross-section
size (a, b and d) on the u and E distribution given
the same b/a ratio of 0.70 (elliptic cross-section
shape). Immediately below the tip apex, the
potential curves are almost the same, and
accordingly, the field curves are quite similar.
The field distribution differs only slightly toward
the bottom electrode, where the field tends to
decrease slowly with z. Overall the field is higher
for a smaller cross-section.
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2007, Boston
(a)
u/Va
Figure 5. Effect of b/a ratio on (a) u and (b) E distribution along z-axis between the tip and the grounded metal
(a)
u/Va
Figure 6. Effect of fiber thickness on (a) u and (b) E distribution along z-axis between the tip and the grounded metal
4. Discussion
The spatial distribution of the electrospinning
and PRI field are very similar: strong electric
field is concentrated around the positively-biased
metal tip and evolves into a low field toward the
grounded metal. That is reasonable and expected
because the two cases have the same PDE with
the same boundary conditions except for the
small difference in the geometry of the tips.
Figures 4-6 show that even though the fiber’s
size and cross-section shape vary, the field
distribution remain reasonably unaffected by the
variation in the vicinity of the tip apex, where the
maximum electric field
Emax =1.0Vtip/r ≈ 2.9×107Vtip(V/m), (7)
Eq. (7) clearly indicates that the effects of fiber
size and shape are overwhelmed by the field-
concentrating effect of the tip’s conic shape [15]
even though the tip is rounded. Toward the
bottom metal, the field-concentrating effect
(b)
E(V/cm)
(b)
E(V/cm)
diminishes and the effect of the flat metal plate
starts to take effect. Since the latter effect is
sensitive to the distance between electrodes, u
and E distributions are more sensitive to d in this
region.
Figure 7 shows typical SPM topography and
PRI micrographs of a single fiber about 5µm in
diameter. Figure 8 highlights an area within that
fiber. PRI micrographs (Figures 7b-c and 8b-c)
reveal numerous domains of different contrast
and size from 100 to 1000nm. Figure 9 show the
local d33 vs V curves when SPM tip was
positioned on two different domains (A and B)
shown in Figure 8 and VDC was swept in a cyclic
way of 0V → 10V → -10V → 0V with a step of
±0.1V. In Figure 9, VDC is also converted into
the maximum surface field according to Eq. (7),
where r=35nm. There is no hystersis loop,
implying that the polarization was not switched
in two domains. Although the maximum electric
filed is as high as 2.9×108V/m, it exists only on
the fiber surface and diminishes rapidly
immediately below the surface.
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2007, Boston

Figure 7. (a) SPM topography, PRI (b) amplitude and (c) phase images of a single PZT microfiber

Figure 8. (a) SPM topography, PRI (b) amplitude and (c) phase images of an area of 1.5µm×1.5µm within
the PZT microfiber
8 8
Em(10 V/m) Em (10 V/m)
-2.9 -1.4 0.0 1.4 2.9 -2.9 -1.4 0.0 1.4 2.9
-0.90
0.75 (a) (b)
-0.95
0.60
-1.00
d33 (pm/V)
d33 (pm/V)

0.45
-1.05

0.30 -1.10

0.15 -1.15
-10 -5 0 5 10 -10 -5 0 5 10
VDC (V) VDC (V)

Figure 9. Local d33 vs. V curves of domains (a) A and (b) B in Figure 8

5. Conclusion evolves into a low level toward the grounded

Spatial distribution of electric potential and
field during electrospinning and PRI is analyzed
numerically using the FEA tool embedded in
FEMLAB. It is found that the distribution is
quite similar in the two cases: the field is very
strong around the positively-biased metal tip and
metal. The PRI field distribution is controlled
considerably by the conic shape effect of the tip
and the PRI field peaks on the horizontal PZT
fiber surface in contact with the metal tip. The
peak field is higher on the fiber than on a thin
film with the same vertical dimension. Because
strong PRI field exists only in a thin surface
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2007, Boston

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