Article abstract
Nature Materials 5, 134 - 140 (2006)
Published online: 15 January 2006 | doi:10.1038/nmat1560
Subject Category: Electronic materials
Electric-field-induced redistribution of polar nano-regions in a relaxor ferroelectric
Guangyong Xu1, Z. Zhong2, Y. Bing3, Z.-G. Ye3 & G. Shirane1
Abstract
Relaxor ferroelectrics, with their strong dependence of polarization on the applied electric field, are of considerable technological importance. On a microscopic scale, however, there exists competition as well as coexistence between short-range and long-range polar order. The conventional picture is that the polar nano-regions (PNRs) that appear at high temperatures beyond the Curie transition, form nuclei for the field-induced long-range order at low temperatures. Here, we report high-energy X-ray diffuse-scattering measurements on the relaxor Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZN) to study the short-range polar order under an electric field applied along the [111] direction. In contrast to conventional expectations, the overall diffuse-scattering intensity is not suppressed. On the other hand, the field induces a marked change on the shape of the three-dimensional diffuse-scattering intensity pattern, corresponding to a redistribution of PNRs in real space. We show that these surprising results are consistent with a model in which the PNRs with [110]-type polarizations, orthogonal to that of the surrounding environment, are embedded and persist in the [111]-polarized ferroelectric order of the bulk.
- Physics Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA
- National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada
Correspondence to: Guangyong Xu1 e-mail: gxu@bnl.gov
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
RESEARCH
Supplementary Information, Fig. S1Nature Materials Article (01 Jul 2008)
Polarization rotation mechanism for ultrahigh electromechanical response in single-crystal piezoelectricsNature Letters to Editor (20 Jan 2000)
Origin of morphotropic phase boundaries in ferroelectricsNature Letters to Editor (31 Jan 2008)
The giant electromechanical response in ferroelectric relaxors as a critical phenomenonNature Letters to Editor (22 Jun 2006)
See all 10 matches for Research
