The electric field dependence of the piezoelectric properties of rhombohedral 0.955Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.045PbTiO3 crystals were investigated as a function of orientation with respect to the prototypic (cubic) axes. For 〈111〉 oriented fields, depolarization and subsequent domain reorientation resulted in an apparent maximum in the piezoelectric coefficients occurring at ∼5 kV/cm, followed by nonhysteretic dij saturation, indicating a single domain state under bias. By extrapolation, single domain values for the piezoelectric coefficients d33 and d31 were determined to be 125 and −35 pC/N, respectively. The hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficient dh for single domain crystals was calculated to be ∼55 pC/N, coincident with the experimentally determined values under hydrostatic pressure. For 〈001〉 oriented fields, piezoelectric coefficients d33〈001〉 and d31〈001〉 as high as 2250 and −1000 pC/N were determined, respectively. Although a high value of dh〈001〉 (∼250 pC/N) was expected, the experimentally determined value was only ∼50 pC/N. A change of polar vector within the crystal lattice was discussed in relation to the volume strain associated with an E-field induced phase transition and the possible origin of the discrepancy in hydrostatic dh values.

E-field induced phase transformation and associated changes in dielectric/piezoelectric properties of 〈001〉-oriented rhombohedral 0.92Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.08PbTiO3 crystals were investigated. The longitudinal strain level was found to abruptly increase at 20 kV/cm, corresponding to that where an induced phase appears within a multidomain matrix. Decreases in the dielectric constant (K3T∼4000 to 500), transverse coupling (k31∼70% to 50%) and transverse piezoelectric coefficient (d31∼−1100 to −200 pC/N) associated with the induced phase were the result of increased crystal anisotropy. By contrast, the thickness coupling (kT) increased from 53% at 0 kV/cm to 64% at 45 kV/cm, associated with this phase transition. The measured dielectric and piezoelectric properties found for the induced phase state were nearly identical to those of 〈001〉 poled tetragonal (1−x)PZN−xPT (x>0.1) crystals. Based on these results, it is evident that the symmetry of induced phase is tetragonal, 4 mm.

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The linear electro-optic (E-O) coefficients of poled 0.88Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.12PbTiO3 single crystal were characterized using an automated scanning Mach-Zehnder interferometer and the senarmont compensator method at room temperature. They were obtained at a wavelength of 632.8 nm: r 33=134 pm/V, r 13=7 pm/V, r 51=462 pm/V, and r c=131 pm/V respectively and the refractive indices: n e=2.57 and n o=2.46. The large r 51 coefficient compared with r 33 is caused by the high dielectric constant at perpendicular to the polar-axis compared with the dielectric constant along the c-axis. Comparison with the quadratic E-O coefficients measured at near and above the Curie temperature suggests that the values of the quadratic E-O coefficients measured earlier may be smaller than the intrinsic ones due to the influence of micro-polar regions. The development of an automated scanning Mach-Zehnder interferometer, which is less susceptible to the errors caused by the laser intensity fluctuation and drafting in the optical path length in the system, is also described.

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