Orientation dependence of electric field induced phase transitions in lead-free (Na0.5Bi0.5)TiO3-based single crystals

The orientation dependence of the electric field induced strain and phase transitions in 0.92(Na0.5Bi0.5)TiO3-0.06BaTiO(3)-0.02(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 (NBT-6BT-2KNN) single crystals has been investigated. The evolution of Raman spectra with electric field reveals that a tetragonal ferroelectric phase is initially induced at E=14kV/cm and completed above E=25kV/cm for [001] oriented single crystals. When the electric field is applied along [111] direction, a partial phase transition from pseudocubic to rhombohedral structure is triggered at E=19kV/cm, which is higher than that for inducing tetragonal ferroelectric phase along [001] direction. Both field-induced phase structures and stability of NBT-6BT-2KNN single crystal are strongly associated with the crystallographic orientations. These results provide a better understanding to the field-induced macroscopic strain in lead-free NBT-based ferroelectrics.