Nanoscale Atomic Displacements Ordering for Enhanced Piezoelectric Properties in Lead-Free ABO3 Ferroelectrics.

Pramanick, Abhijit; Jørgensen, Mads R V; Diallo, Souleymane O; Christianson, Andrew D; Fernandez-Baca, Jaime A; Hoffmann, Christina; Wang, Xiaoping; Lan, Si et al. · Adv Mater · 2015

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

In situ synchrotron X-ray diffuse scattering and inelastic neutron scattering measurements from a prototype ABO3 ferroelectric single-crystal are used to elucidate how electric fields along a nonpolar direction can enhance its piezoelectric properties. The central mechanism is found to be a nanoscale ordering of B atom displacements, which induces increased lattice instability and therefore a greater susceptibility to electric-field-induced mechanical deformation.

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