Local strain heterogeneity and elastic relaxation dynamics associated with relaxor behavior in the single-crystal perovskite Pb(In1/2Nb

Abstract

PMN-PT) relaxor single crystals were demonstrated to possess improved temperature-insensitive properties, which would be desirable for high-power device applications. The relaxor character associated with the development of local random fields (RFs) and a high rhombohedral-tetragonal (R-T) ferroelectric transition temperature (T R−T > 120 • C) would be critical for the excellent properties. A significant effect of the chemical substitution of In 3+ and Zr 4+ in PMN-PT to give PIN-PZ-PMN-PT is the development of local strain heterogeneity, which acts to suppress the development of macroscopic shear strains without suppressing the development of local ferroelectric moments and contribute substantially to the RFs in PIN-PZ-PMN-PT. Measurements of elastic and anelastic properties by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy show that PIN-PZ-PMN-PT crystal has a quite different form of elastic anomaly due to Vogel-Fulcher freezing, rather than the a discrete cubic-T transition seen in a single crystal of PMN-28PT. It also has high acoustic loss of the relaxor phase down to T R−T. Analysis of piezoresponse force microscopy phase images at different temperatures provides a quantitative insight into the extent to which the RFs influence the microdomain structure and the short-range order correlation length ξ .

Local Structural Heterogeneity and Electromechanical Responses of Ferroelectrics: Learning from Relaxor Ferroelectrics

“…Prior to the discussion in this section, we would like to note that only Pb(B I ,B II )O 3 ‐PbTiO 3 (relaxor‐PT) system shows outstanding piezoelectric properties compared to classical ferroelectric systems, although a considerable number of other materials possess relaxor characteristics, as presented in Section . Therefore, the following discussions of the high piezoelectricity in relaxor ferroelectrics are focused on the Pb(B I ,B II )O 3 ‐PbTiO 3 system.…”

“…In addition, the low‐temperature dielectric relaxation is observed in both single‐domain and engineered‐polydomain states, demonstrating that it is not related to the macrodomain states or general domain wall motions. In addition, according to the resonant ultrasound spectroscopy method, the elastic compliance coefficient of [001]‐oriented PMN‐0.28PT crystal was found to drastically decrease from 150 to 0 K and an acoustic loss maximum was observed around 70 K, being analogous to the cryogenic dielectric properties.…”

Ultra-high piezoelectric properties and labyrinthine-domain structure in (K,Na)(Ta,Nb)O3 with phase boundaries

“…13–18 In lead-based families, the high piezoelectric properties at the MPB originate from the complex domain structures and ease of polarization rotation. 19–24 In KNN-family materials, the enhancement of piezoelectric properties is mainly related to polymorphic phase transition (PPT), 25–28 which is similar to the MPB. However, most researchers have focused on KNN-based ceramics to improve their piezoelectric response by building PPT boundaries for application.…”