Banded domain structures and polarization arrangements in PbTiO3 single crystals

Banded ferroelectric domain structures and the corresponding polarization arrangements of flux-grown PbTiO3 single crystals have been studied using optical and electron microscopy. Most of the specimens show banded domain arrangements, which correspond to surface relief characteristics of as-grown crystals. Using crystals with different etching conditions, the three-dimensional arrangements of the domains can be constructed. It is found that banded domain boundaries show relatively high energy, which enhances the etching of these boundaries. Drawing schematic polarization configurations, one finds that head-to-head, tail-to-tail, and other unconventional polarization configurations exist constantly in PbTiO3 crystals, indicating that the high electrical energy configurations are quite common in lead titanate crystals.