Temperature characteristics and development of field-induced phase transition in relaxor ferroelectric Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.87Ti0.13O3 ceramics

Abstract

Ferroelectric phase inducing threshold electric field E th and its temperature dependence were determined in relaxor ferroelectric 0.87Pb͑Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 ͒O 3 − 0.13PbTiO 3 ͑PMN-13PT͒ ceramics by measuring dielectric response on a dc field pulse. Evolution of the induced ferroelectricity was observed by means of polarization measurements. An inducing threshold field was found to have a minimum of E th,min = 1.55 kV/ cm at T = −5°C. In contrast to pure PMN, which shows a minimum threshold field near the depolarization temperature, the temperature of the minimum threshold field differs by an amount of ⌬T = 23°C from the depolarization temperature T dp =18°C in PMN-13PT. © 2008 American Institute of Physics. ͓DOI: 10.1063/1.2993345͔In prototype relaxor ferroelectrics Pb͑Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 O͒ 3 ͑PMN͒, a ferroelectric long-range order can be made stable by adding pure ferroelectric PbTiO 3 ͑PT͒ to form a solid solution of Pb͑Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 ͒ 1−x Ti x O 3 ͑PMN-xPT͒ 1 and by applying a dc electric field. 2,3 The structure of PMN exhibits average cubic symmetry down to very low temperatures. 4,5 On the other hand, a nanometer scale of 1:1 ordering of Mg 2+ and Nb 5+ cations leads to formation of polar nanoregions. 6 An increase in PT content gradually increases the degree of polar nanoregion evolution, thus favoring the development of a long-range polar order due to a reduced tendency of 1:1 ordering. 1 Eventually this leads to long-range dipolar correlation of the polar regions and onset of a ferroelectric rhombohedral phase. According to recent studies, however, ferroelectric distortion in low-temperature PMN-xPT ͑x Յ 0.2͒ appears to be limited to a short range in the bulk of a crystal with average cubic symmetry, and the polar regions of rhombohedral symmetry are present in a near-surface outer crystal. [7][8][9] This structural complexity makes it difficult to draw exact boundaries between adjacent phases, and it is believed to be a reason for the discovered contradiction in the PMN-PT structure. 9 Furthermore, the low-temperature ferroelectric structure develops into a tetragonal phase through intermediate monoclinic phases in the vicinity of the morphotropic phase boundary. 10,11 Thus, modification of PMN with PT enhances coupling of the polar nanoregions to the applied dc field and consequently decreases the threshold for field inducement.The electric field-induced ferroelectric transition and its temperature dependence on relaxor ferroelectrics are influenced by the type of transition enforcement. 12-14 Mostly heating and cooling with a constant electric field have been used to determine E-T relations of both PMN 14,15 and PMN-PT. 10,16 Nevertheless, another approach with constant temperature and a variable electric field requires a different kind of study in which field-inducing behavior can be viewed separately at individual temperatures.In this letter we study a field-induced ferroelectric transition in PMN-13PT ceramics. In particular, we examine the temperature dependence of the threshold field by measuring the die...

Stress-modulated relaxor-to-ferroelectric transition in lead-free(Na1/2Bi1/2Schader1, Wang2, Hinterstein3 et al. 2016Phys. Rev. B885462View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…3(b)]. Previous investigations on polycrystalline Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 show a similar increase in the T F -R anomaly during field cooling-zero-field heating experiments with increasing poling electric field [59]. This was rationalized as an incomplete relaxor-to-ferroelectric transition at lower-electric-field levels, resulting in a mixed relaxor/ferroelectric state.…”

Electric-field-induced dielectric and temperature changes in a⟨011⟩-orientedPb(Mg1Peräntie1, Hagberg2, Uusimäki3 et al. 2010Phys. Rev. BSelf Cite1279800View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…[32][33][34] To study the isothermal fieldinduced changes, dielectric polarization measurements with a maximum electric field of 9 kV/cm at 1 Hz were performed at constant temperatures. In order to also record the virgin polarization curve, before each measurement the crystal was first forced into a depoled state by annealing at 180°C for 10 min.…”

“…With this viewpoint in mind, field-induced phase transitions and structural changes at constant temperatures have different characteristics than the widely studied changes induced by more conventional means of cooling and heating with a constant electric field, and thus they should be reviewed and treated separately. [32][33][34] To date, field-induced R → M A → T or R → M A → M C → T phase transitions found close to the morphotropic phase boundary in ͗001͘-oriented PMN-PT and PZN-PT have been emphasized due to their relation to high piezoelectric response. 35,36 However, enhanced piezoelectricity can also be obtained in ͗011͘-oriented PZN-PT as well as PMN-PT studied herein, where the orthorhombic phase can be induced by an electric field.…”

Field-induced thermal response and irreversible phase transition enthalpy change in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3

“…A distinctive increase in ͉⌬H͉ with a small increase in the field around the threshold field shows a similar behavior as the temperature characteristics of the inducing threshold field determined by dielectric measurements. 14 The extracted maximum enthalpy change of ͉⌬H͉ =77 J/ kg is smaller than the temperature-induced change of ͉⌬H͉ = 110 J / kg calculated from the specific heat data measured by means of zero-field heating after field cooling for PMN. 13 This difference is presumably caused by differences in the transition itself and its enforcement type as well as material composition.…”

“…13,14 Initially, the dielectric hysteresis loop pair was measured subsequently at predefined temperatures with a maximum field of E max =12 kV/ cm. Then, at each temperature, the sample was sequentially polarized first with a positive electric field pulse and after a 1 min settling period with a reversed electric field pulse 6.2 s long with a rise/fall time of 0.25 s, and the corresponding thermal response was measured.…”