Effect of a Transverse Tensile Stress on the Electric‐Field‐Induced Domain Reorientation in Soft PZT: In Situ XRD Study

Abstract

The effect of a transverse tensile stress on the electric‐field‐induced 90°‐domain reorientation in tetragonal lead zirconate titanate (PZT) near the morphotropic phase boundary was investigated in situ using X‐ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD intensity ratio, I(002)/I(200), which represents the ratio of the volume of the c‐domains to that of the a‐domains on the PZT surface, was examined as a function of the electric field at various stress levels. It was found that a transverse tensile stress changes the electric‐field dependence of I(002)/I(200), especially at higher electric fields. Without a transverse tensile stress, I(002)/I(200) began to saturate at E≈ 800 kV/m. With a transverse tensile stress of 75 MPa, I(002)/I(200) increased with an upward curvature with the electric field, indicating that the transverse tensile stress enhanced the field‐induced 90°‐domain reorientation, and increased the effective piezoelectric coefficients at larger electric fields. At E= 900 kV/m, the estimated d31,domain changed from −200 × 10−12 V/m at zero stress, to −350 × 10−12 V/m at 75 MPa.