DOMAIN CONFIGURATION AND FERROELECTRIC RELATED PROPERTIES OF RELAXOR BASED SINGLE-CRYSTALS

Domain configuration and ferroelectric related properties of rhombohed ral Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O-3 and its solid solution with PbTiO3 were investig ated as a function of E-field and crystallographic orientation. Althou gh a single domain state could be achieved by applying an E-field alon g the rhombohedral polar direction [111], a multidomain state was reco vered with the removal of the E-field. This domain instability resulte d in hysteresis of the strain vs. E-field behavior. In contrast, an en gineered domain configuration of [001] oriented rhombohedral crystals was found to be stable with no domain motion detectable under DC-bias, resulting in hysteresis minimized strain vs. E-field behavior. Crysta llographically, this domain stability could be ascribed to the macrosc opically tetragonal symmetry (4mm), resulting from the engineering of domains with rhombohedral symmetry (3m).