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In situ transmission electron microscopy studies of electric-field-induced phenomena in ferroelectrics

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Abstract

High electric fields were delivered to specimens during imaging in the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) chamber to reveal details of electric field-induced phenomena in ferroelectric oxides. These include the polarization switching in nanometer-sized ferroelectric domains and the grain boundary cavitation in a commercial lead zirconate titanate (PZT) polycrystalline ceramic, the domain wall fracture in a Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 single crystal, and the transformation of incommensurate modulations in Pb0.99Nb0.02[(Zr1−xSnx)1−yTiy]0.98O3 (PZST100x/100y/2) polycrystalline ceramics. In the PZT ceramic, a cavitation process was uncovered for the electric field-induced intergranular fracture. In the ferroelectric single crystal, a preexisting crack was observed to deflect and to follow a 90° domain wall, indicating the presence of severe incompatible piezoelectric strains at the domain wall. In the antiferroelectric PZST ceramics, the electric field-induced antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transformation was accompanied with the disappearance of incommensurate modulations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA

    Xiaoli Tan & Hui He

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA

    Jian-Ku Shang

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  1. Xiaoli Tan
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  2. Hui He
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Correspondence to Xiaoli Tan.

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Tan, X., He, H. & Shang, JK. In situ transmission electron microscopy studies of electric-field-induced phenomena in ferroelectrics. Journal of Materials Research 20, 1641–1653 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2005.0213

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2005.0213

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