Study of thermal and spatial dependent electric field-induced phase transition in relaxor ferroelectric crystals using Raman spectroscopy

Electric field-induced phase transition in perovskite relaxor ferroelectric crystals has been studied using Raman spectroscopy. The findings revealed that by switching the applied electric field, the intensity ratio of the Raman spectra of the electric field-induced phase transition in relaxor ferroelectric potassium tantalate niobate KTa0.61Nb0.39O3 (KTN) crystals can be a function of temperature and thermal history, which is explained by the two-stage kinetic model of first-order phase transition in disordered ferroelectrics. Moreover, because of the charge injection by the applied voltage, the non-uniform electric field-induced phase transition in KTN was spatially resolved by Raman mapping. The results of this study will be of use for fundamental scientific studies on the physical mechanisms of the electric field-induced phase transition in perovskite relaxor ferroelectric materials and has practical applications for electromechanical and electro-optic devices and systems. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.