Pulsed neutron diffraction study of Zr-rich PZT

Pulsed neutron diffraction investigations have been performed in the ferroe lectric PZT system (PbZr1-xTixO3) doped with 1 wt% of Nb2O5, as a function of both temperature and composition. The study has been made in a wide rang e of temperatures encompassing the three known phases in Zr-rich PZT: ferro electric low temperature (R3c), ferrelectric high temperature (R3m) and par aelectric (Pm3m). The combination of the temperature and the composition de pendence of the structural parameters allowed the determination of the spec ial relationship, recently pointed out by Corker et al, between the octahed ral strain (zeta) and the tilt angle to in the ferroelectric low temperatur e phase (FL) of Pn: The strain-tilt coupling coefficient has been found to decrease linearly with Ti content and the composition at which zeta and ome ga decouple has been found to be x approximate to 0.30.