Direct measurement of the domain switching contribution to the dynamic piezoelectric response in ferroelectric ceramics

The dynamic piezoelectric response of ferroelectric ceramics is comprised of both intrinsic (piezoelectric lattice strain) and extrinsic (non-180 degrees domain wall motion) components. Here the authors report direct measurements of non-180 degrees domain wall motion in ceramic lead zirconate titanate during application of subcoercive cyclic driving electric fields using an in situ stroboscopic neutron diffraction technique. During unipolar cycling at 1 Hz and half of the coercive field, non-180 degrees domain switching gives rise to approximately 34% of the measured d(33) coefficient of 400 pm/V. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.