Investigation of local structural phase transitions in 95Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-5BaTiO3 piezoceramics by means of in-situ transmission electron microscopy

Abstract

The temperature-dependence of superstructure reflections, diffuse scattering intensity, and ferroelectric domain morphology for 95Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-5BaTiO3 ceramics was investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscopy. A subtle local structural phase transition was observed around 110 °C. This local phase transition is characterized by a transformation in the dominant octahedral-tilt system from antiphase to in-phase tilting and was correlated with the depolarization mechanism common in this type of materials. Simulations of the octahedral-tilt disorder were developed at different temperatures which enabled us to provide a comprehensive structural model that explains the temperature-dependence of superstructure reflections and electron diffuse scattering intensity. This model revealed that plate-like in-phase nanodomains tilted about three orthogonal axes coexist with an antiphase tilted matrix, even at room temperature. With increasing temperature, the concentration of in-phase nanodomains is increased till a critical volume fraction is reached. We propose that these plate-like in-phase nanodomains are an inherent characteristic of NBT-based compounds and that the local phase transition observed around 110 °C leads to a disruption in the long-range ferroelectric order and is responsible for the depolarization mechanism.