Micro-/nanodomains and their switching in a high Curie-temperature ferroelectric single crystal of Bi(Zn2/3Nb1/3)O3-PbTiO3

Domain structure plays a critical role in the functionality of ferroelectrics. In this work, the domain structure and local domain switching behaviors of a (001) C -oriented 0.38Bi(Zn 2/3 Nb 1/3 )O 3 -0.62PbTiO 3 single crystal with high Curie temperature (~ 430 °C) and high tetragonality ( c / a > 1.04, where c and a represent the lattice parameters of the tetragonal crystal), were studied by polarized light microscopy (PLM) and piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). Local polar domains with typical sizes from several nanometers to micrometers were observed by PFM in the crystal. The local domain switching was realized by applying a voltage, indicating the ferroelectricity of the crystal. This work provides a better understanding of the micro-/nanodomain structure and related phenomena in ferroelectrics of complex perovskite structure.