NANOSCALE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PIEZOELECTRIC AND FERROELECTIC PROPERTIES OF PZN-PT SINGLE CRYSTALS BY SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES

WANG HONGLI

Publication

NANOSCALE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PIEZOELECTRIC AND FERROELECTIC PROPERTIES OF PZN-PT SINGLE CRYSTALS BY SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES

WANG HONGLI

Abstract

Relaxor piezoelectric materials of Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-x%PbTiO3 (PZN- x%PT) single crystals, due to their superior dielectric and electromechanical properties, are promising candidates for next generation high-performance transducers, sensors and actuators. Despite extensive studies of these materials, the understanding of the domain structure, polarization switching and screening behaviors remains unclear. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to systematically characterize the nanoscale piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties of the PZN-x%PT single crystals. The characterizations are mainly based on various advanced Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) techniques.