Thermal and Electric Field-Dependent Evolution of Domain Structures in Polycrystalline BaTiO3 Using the 3D-XRD Technique

Abstract

The evolution of ferroelectric domain structures inside a single grain embedded in a polycrystalline BaTiO3 ceramic was investigated under temperature and electric field using the three-dimensional X-ray diffraction (3D-XRD) method. The orientation of domains within the grain was studied during the phase transformation from the cubic to tetragonal crystal structure. The peak widths broadened from 0.10 ± 0.01∘ to 0.29±0.08∘ along the azimuthal direction during cooling. Four individual tetragonal domain structures were developed from the cubic grain. A twinning model based on {101} habit planes is discussed. While the twinning model predicts 89.47∘ misorientation between 90∘ domains and 1.049∘ misorientation between domain variants, the measured misorientations neither support the twinning model nor are the domain structures mutually orthogonal. The average misorientation of the domain structures at room temperature with respect to the cubic grain was about 0.3∘. Upon application of an electric field, the volume fractions of the domain structures changed systematically favoring growth of domain structures with small polarization angle with respect to applied field direction. No rotation of domain structures was observed upon application of an electric field which is consistent with domain boundary migration.