NEUTRON DIFFUSE SCATTERING IN LEAD-BASED RELAXOR FERROELECTRICS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE ULTRA-HIGH PIEZOELECTRICITY

A brief review is presented that summarizes recent neutron diff use scattering measurements on single crystal PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3 (PMN) and PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3 (PZN) doped with PbTiO3 (PT). Emphasis is placed on results that suggest that the short-range, polar correlations observed in these systems are connected to the anomalous relaxor dielectric properties, and in particular to the large values of the piezoelectric coefficient d(33) near the morphotropic phase boundary.