Enhanced piezoelectricity of barium titanate single crystals with engineered domain configuration

using c oriented tetragonal 3 crystals.7,8 The 33 of c poled tetragonal 3 crystals with engineEngineered domain configurations with diVerent domain ered domain configuration was #203 pC N−1 , over twice sizes were induced in [111] c oriented tetragonal barium as large as the value for c poled 3 single domain titanate BaT 3 single crystals, and their piezoelectric crystals (90 pC N−1 ). What is more, 33 for a c poled properties investigated as a function of domain size. rhombohedral PZN–PT crystal with engineered domain Prior to this study, the dependence of domain configurconfiguration was almost 30 times larger than for a c ation on temperature and electric field E was investipoled PZN–PT single domain crystal (83 pC N−1 ).3 To gated using polarised light microscopy to establish the explain this huge difference, attention in the present study optimum conditions for domain size control. As a result, was focused on the domain size in the engineered domain above the Curie temperature T c of 132.2°C, when E configuration. This is because the domain structure of the greater than 6 kV cm−1 was applied along the [111] c c poled PZN–PT crystal was composed of fine fibredirection, an engineered domain configuration with fine like domains with a width of #1 mm,9,10 while that of domain structure appeared. Moreover, it was also found c poled 3 crystals was made up of very coarse that this fine domain structure was still stable at room domains (300–400 mm width7 ). Thus it is proposed that temperature in the absence of electric field. Finally, the when a fine domain structure is induced in c poled piezoelectric properties were measured using 31 resonators with three domain sizes, and it was found that piezoelectric properties such as d 31 and k 31 increased significantly with decreasing domain size. BCT /707