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arXiv · 1412.3536

Role of Zinc and Niobium in the Giant Piezoelectric Response of PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3

Ali Al-Zein·Hichem Dammak·Philippe Papet·Olivier Mathon·Bernard Hehlen·Claire Levelut·Julien Haines·Jerome Rouquette
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Abstract

Relaxor ferroelectric perovskites are highly polarizable and can exhibit giant coupling between elastic strain and an applied electric field. Here, we report an in situ extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) study of a PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3 (PZN) single crystal as a function of the electric field. We show that the strong dipoles in the NbO6 octahedra bonds are aligned along the four \textless{} 011 \textgreater{} directions close to the orientation of the electric field, while a small reversible polar shift occurs for Zn in the direction of the electric field, i.e., positive or negative. This reversible Zn-O polar shift is proposed to play an important role in both the "easy" switching of the ferroelectric polarization and the giant piezoelectric effect in PZN.

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Ali Al-Zein, Hichem Dammak, Philippe Papet, Olivier Mathon, Bernard Hehlen, Claire Levelut, Julien Haines, Jerome Rouquette. 2014-12-11. Role of Zinc and Niobium in the Giant Piezoelectric Response of PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3. https://doi.org/10.1021/ic402409f

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