Effect of composition and poling field on the properties and ferroelectric phase-stability of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 crystals

Piezoelectric constant and temperature vs dielectric constant measurements have been performed on the <001> and <011> oriented Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-PbTiO3 crystals in the rhombohedral phase with compositions near the morphotropic phase boundary under different poling fields. The investigations have revealed that the dielectric and piezoelectric properties strongly depend on composition (PbTiO3 content), and on poling field for crystals in a narrow composition region. The influence of composition on the stability of orthorhombic ferroelectric phase has been identified by x-ray diffraction on the <011> oriented crystals. And the origin of high piezoelectric response for crystals in different composition regions was proposed. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.