Electric-field-induced non-ergodic relaxor to ferroelectric transition in BiFeO-SrTiO ceramics.

While BiFeO-based solid solutions show great promise for applications in energy conversion and storage, realizing this promise necessitates understanding the structure-property relationship in particular pertaining to the relaxor-like characteristics often exhibited by solid solutions with polar-to-non-polar morphotropic phase boundaries. To this end, we investigated the role of the compositionally-driven relaxor state in (100 - )BiFeO-SrTiO [BFO-STO], synchrotron X-ray diffraction under bipolar electric-field cycling. The electric-field induced changes to the crystal structure, phase fraction and domain textures were monitored the {111}, {200}, and 1/2{311} Bragg peaks.

Imaging microstructural dynamics and strain fields in electro-active materials in situ with dark field x-ray microscopy.

The electric-field-induced and temperature induced dynamics of domains, defects, and phases play an important role in determining the macroscopic functional response of ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials. However, distinguishing and quantifying these phenomena remains a persistent challenge that inhibits our understanding of the fundamental structure-property relationships. In situ dark field x-ray microscopy is a new experimental technique for the real space mapping of lattice strain and orientation in bulk materials.