E-field-induced polarization rotation in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)1−xTixO3 crystal

Abstract

A sequence of field-induced phase transformations was observed by means of a polarizing microscope on a (111)-cut single crystal Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.67Ti0.33O3 at room temperature with an electric field applied along the [111] direction. As electric field increases, polarizations of the rhombohedral R domains whose polar directions are not along [111] rotate first toward a tetragonal T phase associated with 90° domain walls. Then the crystal gradually reaches total optical extinction for all polarizer angles at 12 kV/cm, indicating a single [111] rhombohedral R111 domain with polarization aligned with the electric field. These field-induced phase transformations are irreversible and proceed most likely through MA-type monoclinic distortions, i.e., R→MA→T→MA→R111.

Phase Coexistence of Temperature-Dependent Phase Transformation in Relaxor Ferroelectric Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)1–xTixO3Single Crystal

“…The mechanism underlying the ultrahigh piezoelectric response lies in the polarization rotation from the rhombohedral (R) phase through the intermediate monoclinic (M) and orthorhombic (O) phases to the tetragonal (T ) phase [2]. The intermediate phases strongly depend on PT content, temperature, strength of E-field and crystallographic orientation [3][4][5].…”

Picturing the elephant: Giant piezoelectric activity and the monoclinic phases of relaxor-ferroelectric single crystals

“…Since 1997, much work has also gone into investigating the various electricfield induced phase transitions that occur from the unpoled or pre-poled state when electric fields are applied to crystals of PMN-xPT or PZN-xPT along a non-polar [001] C , [101] C or [111] C type direction. As a result, various phase transitions and "polarization rotation paths" have been evidenced by bulk strain-field measurements [151][152][153][154], and in situ diffraction [112,[130][131][132] and optical microscopy [110,111,151,[155][156][157]. Moreover, they all share certain characteristics.…”

Domain hierarchy in annealed (001)-oriented Pb(Mg1∕3Nb2∕3)O3-x%PbTiO3 single crystals

“…1,2 Phase transformation investigations by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and neutron scattering have shown a tetragonal T phase for x Ͼ 0.35, a monoclinic M c phase for 30Ͻ x Ͻ 35, a rhombohedral R phase for 0.25Ϸ x Ͻ 0.30, 3,4 and a slightly distorted pseudocubic phase designated as X for x Ͻ 0.25. 5,6 Corresponding to these structural studies, counterpart investigations of the domain structure evolution with increase of PT content have also been performed by polarized optical microscopy (POM), [7][8][9] and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). [10][11][12] However, due to limited resolution, optical microscopy does not reveal details of domain configurations, but rather only provides a representative domain structure averaged throughout the specimen thickness.…”