Observation of ferroelectric domains in flux grown KTiOPO₄ crystals

Abstract

Ferroelectric domains have been observed in flux grown KTiOPO₄ single crystals using synchrotron x-ray diffraction topography. The transformation of the multidomain crystal to single domain on heat-treatment was observed. The possible reason for such a behaviour must be similar to the one reported for the semiconducting ferroelectrics like K(Ta, Nb)O₃ and BaTiO₃, wherein the electric field generated due to the pyroelectric charges during the annealing process results in the self-poling of the crystal.