Scaling effects in the alternating-current poling of thin PIN-PMN-PT single crystals

Abstract

AC-poling of Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PIN-PMN-PT) single crystals with a thickness of 0.06–0.16 mm was studied in this paper. Compared with DC-poled samples, enhancements in piezoelectric and dielectric properties can be obtained when the thickness is above 0.1 mm. However, inconsistency in poling effects was found in the crystals with thickness below 0.1 mm. To elucidate why such scaling effect arises, surface roughness was measured by an atomic force microscopy to correlate surface morphology and poling effects. It was found that non-uniform surface roughness led to inconsistent and decreased properties. Furthermore, temperature-dependent dielectric permittivity spectra were measured to explore how crystal thickness affects the thermal stability of ferroelectric phases. It is noted that complex changes in crystallographic symmetries emanate by decreasing thickness. Such phenomena can be attributed to more influential effects of surface morphology when thickness is reduced. We hope this work suggests a clue for solving the scaling effects of AC-poling on relaxor-PbTiO3 single crystals.