Domain switching in ferroelectric single crystal/ceramics under electromechanical loading

Domain switching in PMN-PT single crystal and PZT-5 ceramics under electromechanical loading were studied in two different ways. For the single crystal, domain switching was in situ investigated with polarized light microscopy. A 90° domain-switching zone was observed near the crack tip and the size of the switching zone changed with the acuity of the crack tip. For PZT-5 ceramics, domain switching under orthogonal electromechanical loading (E3 and compressive stress σ11) was studied by measuring the hysteresis loops, butterfly curves and reversed butterfly curves (ɛ11 versus E3). Experimental results show that 90° domain switching is suppressed in the planes parallel to the compression direction. A domain-switching model dividing each 180° switching to two successive 90° switching was proposed to explain the experimental results.