Publication Date:
2017-04-10
Description:
The structures and functional properties of Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 TiO 3 – x KNbO 3 (NBT-xKN) solid solutions, with x in the range from 0.01 to 0.09, were investigated using a combination of high-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (SXPD) and ferroelectric property measurements. For low KN contents, an irreversible transformation from cubic to rhombohedral phases was observed after the application of a high electric field, indicating that the polar nanoregions (PNRs) in the unpoled state can be transformed into metastable long-range ordered ferroelectric domains in the poled state. In contrast, the near-cubic phase of the unpoled ceramics was found to be remarkably stable and was retained on cooling to a temperature of −175°C. Upon heating, the field-induced metastable ferroelectric rhombohedral phase transformed back to the nanopolar cubic state at the structural transformation temperature, T ST , which was determined as approximately 225°C and 125°C for KN contents of 3% and 5% respectively. For the field-induced rhombohedral phase in the poled specimens, the pseudo-cubic lattice parameter, a p , exhibited an anomalous reduction while the inter-axial angle increased towards a value of 90° on heating, resulting in an overall increase in volume. The observed structural changes were correlated with the results of temperature-dependent dielectric, ferroelectric and depolarization measurements, enabling the construction of a phase diagram to define the stable regions of the different ferroelectric phases as a function of composition and temperature.
Print ISSN:
0002-7820
Electronic ISSN:
1551-2916
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
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