Spatial distribution of phase transition temperature of KTa1−xNbxO3 measured using scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy

Abstract

The authors have demonstrated that the paraelectric to ferroelectric phase transition temperature TC of KTa1−xNbxO3 (KTN) crystal can be measured locally using scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy with our newly developed probe, which can keep the contact force constant during a temperature sweep. The TC measurement precision (standard deviation) is 0.09°C. This corresponds to a composition of 1.4×10−4, which is difficult to achieve with other element analyzers. Moreover, by measuring TC while changing the position, the authors demonstrated that they can measure the spatial distribution of the TC of the KTN crystal.