Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Advances in Condensed Matter Physics
Volume 2013, Article ID 382140, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/382140
Research Article
Temperature Dependence of Electrical
Properties and Crystal Structure of
0.29Pb(In
1/2
Nb
1/2
)O
3
–0.44Pb(Mg
1/3
Nb
2/3
)O
3
–0.27PbTiO
3
Single Crystals
Qian Li,
1
Yun Liu,
1
Andrew Studer,
2
Zhenrong Li,
3
Ray Withers,
1
and Zhuo Xu
3
1
Research School of Chemistry, he Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia
2
Bragg Institute, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), NSW 2232, Australia
3
Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shanxi 7100049, China
Correspondence should be addressed to Yun Liu; yliu@rsc.anu.edu.au
Received 31 May 2013; Revised 3 October 2013; Accepted 7 October 2013
Academic Editor: Jianhua Hao
Copyright © 2013 Qian Li et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
We characterized the temperature dependent (∼25–200
∘
C) electromechanical properties and crystal structure of Pb(In
1/2
Nb
1/2
)O
3
-
Pb(Mg
1/3
Nb
2/3
)O
3
-PbTiO
3
single crystals using in situ electrical measurement and neutron difraction techniques. he results
show that the poled crystal experiences an addition phase transition around 120
∘
C whereas such a transition is absent in the
unpoled crystal. It is also found that the polar order persists above the maximum dielectric permittivity temperature at which
the crystal shows a well-deined antiferroelectric behavior. he changes in the electrical properties and underlying crystal structure
are discussed in the paper.
1. Introduction
Lead-based relaxor ferroelectric single crystals (RFSCs) have
been intensely studied over recent decades due to their
exceptional electromechanical coupling performance. Typi-
cal RFSCs include binary systems Pb(Zn
1/3
Nb
2/3
)O
3
-PbTiO
3
(PZN-PT) and Pb(Mg
1/3
Nb
2/3
)O
3
-PbTiO
3
(PMN-PT) [1, 2],
as well as a ternary system, Pb(In
1/2
Nb
1/2
)O
3
-Pb(Mg
1/3
Nb
2/3
)O
3
-PbTiO
3
(PIN-PMN-PT), which possess enhanced
properties in terms of high Curie temperature
and coer-
cive ield
. he origin of high piezoelectricity of RFSCs has
long been an important issue. In this regard a widely accepted
theory, proposed by Fu and Cohen [3], is the polarization
rotation mechanism, the essence of which is that the polariza-
tion vectors can rotate freely within a lattice plane instead of
being restricted to certain directions. his theory is supported
by the observations of intermediate phases near the mor-
photropic phase boundary (MPB), for example, monoclinic
and
phases (space group Cm and Pm, resp.) [4].
On the other hand, the structure evolution of RFSCs under
external ields of thermal, electrical, and/or mechanical stress
is another important issue. From a viewpoint of application,
as many piezoelectric devices are employed under a multi-
ield coupled environment, their electromechanical behavior
usually deviates from a simple linear constitutive relationship,
and as a result, those devices may sufer from failures that
are unexpected based on individual factors. herefore, it is
of great importance to understand the structural evolution of
RFSCs that governs their macroscopic properties using in situ
techniques.
In this paper, we aim to study the electromechanical prop-
erties and crystal structure evolution with temperature for
Pb(In
1/2
Nb
1/2
)O
3
-Pb(Mg
1/3
Nb
2/3
)O
3
-PbTiO
3
single crys-
tals, via in situ single crystal neutron difraction in conjunc-
tion with electrical characterization methods. he result leads
to a good understanding of the phase transition behaviour in
this material and associated RFSCs.