Study of potassium-sodium-niobate alloys: A combined experimental and theoretical approach

Experimental and theoretical techniques are combined to investigate properties of the environmentally-friendly and technologically-promising (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 (KNN) solid solutions. Two long-range ferroelectric phases of orthorhombic and tetragonal symmetry are reported above 250K. Furthermore, our dielectric measurements, X-ray data and simulations suggest an unusual formation of rhombohedral clusters within an orthorhornbic matrix at lower temperature.