Restricted Domain Growth and Switching Kinetics in Strontium Barium Niobate Crystals

Abstract

The ferroelectric properties have been examined in Sr_0.61Ba_0.39Nb₂O₆ crystals doped with Ni ions. In doped SBN:61 crystals the threshold nucleation field and coercive field decreases by about twice in comparison with the undoped ones. The remnant polarization increases for Ni doped crystal sample. It has been found that the switching kinetics can be approximated by a stretched exponential function, widely used in dielectric relaxation studies. We present real-time studies of domain nucleation and growth processes in doped SBN:61 crystal samples by the nematic liquid crystal (NLC) decoration technique.

Keywords:

• Ferroelectric domains
• domain switching
• SBN
• relaxor

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank dr L. Ivleva from Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow for providing SBN:61 samples.