Neutron diffraction study of the polarization reversal mechanism in $[111]c$-oriented $Pb(Zn1∕3Nb2∕3)O3−xPbTiO3$ Available to Purchase

The polarization reversal mechanism in $[111]c$-oriented $Pb(Zn1∕3Nb2∕3)O3−xPbTiO3$ has been investigated by in-situ neutron diffraction. Stepwise static-field measurements of the $(222)c$ rocking curves confirm a two-stage polarization reversal mechanism via a sequence of non-180° domain reorientations. The time-resolved response has also been measured upon application of a bipolar square wave with a 30 s period to observe directly the relaxation times of diffracted neutron intensity during the reversal process. Upon application of a large antipolar field, the diffraction intensity increases quickly, before relaxing over a longer time period with an exponential decay constant, $τ$⁠, of approximately 5.7 s. These large time constants correlate with a frequency dependence of the macroscopic strain-field response.