Local order of Pb1−xLaxZr0.40Ti0.60O3 ferroelectric ceramic materials probed by X-ray absorption and Raman spectroscopies

Abstract

Abstract This paper reports on the structural characterization of Pb 1− x La x Zr 0.40 Ti 0.60 O 3 (PLZT) ferroelectric ceramic compositions prepared by the conventional solid state reaction method. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and Raman spectroscopy were used to probe the local structure of PLZT samples that exhibits a normal and relaxor ferroelectric behavior. From the Zr K-edge and Pb L III -edge EXAFS spectra, a considerable dissymmetry of Zr and Pb sites was observed in all samples, including those showing a long-range order cubic symmetry and a relaxor behavior. The Raman spectroscopy results confirmed the existence of a local disorder in all PLZT samples through the observation of Raman active vibrational modes. The variation in the intensity of the E (TO 3 ) mode in the PLZT relaxor samples indicates that the process of correlation between nanodomains stabilizes at temperatures lower than T m .