Domain wall and interphase boundary motion in a two-phase morphotropic phase boundary ferroelectric: Frequency dispersion and contribution to piezoelectric and dielectric properties

In ferroelectric materials, enhanced dielectric and piezoelectric property coefficients are found in compositions near morphotropic phase boundaries (MPBs). The material response in these compositions may be contributed by enhanced intrinsic piezoelectric distortions or increased interface motion, e.g., contributions from domain wall and interphase boundary motion, though the relative effect of these mechanisms in different materials is not yet well understood. One of the major challenges to developing this understanding is the availability and sensitivity of in situ characterization techniques, particularly during the application of cyclic electric fields of subcoercive or weak amplitude, conditions at which the property coefficients are measured. Here, we use time-resolved neutron diffraction to resolve the subtle electric-field-induced crystallographic strain mechanisms in a prototypical MPB composition, 36%BiScO3-64%PbTiO3, that contains coexisting monoclinic and tetragonal phases. We observe multiple cooperative electromechanical effects including domain wall motion in both the monoclinic and tetragonal phases, interphase boundary motion between the two phases, and electric-field-induced lattice strains. The measured effects span four orders of magnitude in frequency, facilitating the discrimination of intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to properties. Domain wall motion in the monoclinic phase dominates the response, leading to shifts of diffraction peaks as high as 2300 pm/V; these shifts reflect the field-induced changes in average pseudocubic (00h) lattice spacing of the monoclinic phase parallel to the electric field. Domain wall motion in the tetragonal phase is also readily apparent and exhibits a degree of frequency dispersion similar to that measured in both the relative permittivity and piezoelectric coefficients at similar conditions.