The influence of chemical B-site ordering between Sc 3+ and Nb 5+ cations on the properties of the Pb(Sc 1/2 Nb 1/2)O 3 (PSN) relaxor has been investigated. Depending of the degree of ordering, PSN exhibits different behaviours. For a completely disordered material, a relaxor-ferroelectric phase transition is observed at 379 K by DSC. Ordering between Sc 3+ and Nb 5+ cations on the B-site of the perovskite structure leads to a non-homogeneous material constituted of two phases: ordered and disordered phases. The phase transition temperature of the ordered phase is confirmed to be lower (346 K) than that of the disordered phase. It appears that the phase transition of the disordered phase is shifted to lower temperature owing to the presence of the ordered phase. Moreover, an additional short-range structural ordering is shown to exist in disordered PSN. This additional ordering, for which antiparallel displacements of Pb atoms could be involved, is favoured by chemical ordering between Sc 3+ and Nb 5+ and is long range in ordered PSN.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.