Electron Backscatter Diffraction as a Domain Analysis Technique in BiFeO3-PbTiO3 Single Crystals

Tim L. Burnett, Tim P. Comyn, Eleanor Merson, Andrew J. Bell, Ken Mingard, Tristan Hegarty, and Markys Cain

ABSTRACT xBiFeO3-(1-x)PbTiO3 single crystals were grown via a flux method for a range of compositions. Presented here is a study of the domain configuration in the 0.5BiFeO3-0.5PbTiO3 composition using electron backscatter diffraction to demonstrate the ability of the technique to map ferroelastic domain structures at the micron and submicron scale. The micron-scale domains exhibit an angle of approximately 85° between each variant, indicative of a ferroelastic domain wall in a tetragonal system with a spontaneous strain, c/a - 1 of 0.10, in excellent agreement with the lattice parameters derived from x-ray diffraction. Contrast seen in forescatter images is attributed to variations in the direction of the electrical polarization vector, providing images of ferroelectric domain patterns.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TUFFC.2008.739

© 2008, by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Back to Table of Contents