Atomic-resolution HAADF-STEM images for Sm-doped PMN-PT (sample B) and PMN-30PT crystals recorded along the [010] crystallographic direction. (A and B) Normalized intensities of the A sublattice for Sm-PMN-PT and PMN-30PT, respectively. The color of the circles indicates the intensity of each atom column. (C and D) Atomic distances between A sublattice positions in Sm-PMN-PT and PMN-30PT crystals, respectively. The color of the lines represents the distance between A-site atom columns. Although the long-range averaged phase of Sm-PMN-PT inferred by XRD diffractions is a mixture of tetragonal P4mm and orthorhombic Amm2 phases, the local symmetry can be much lower than that of P4mm and Amm2 because of the presence of cation disordering. As expected, the symmetry of a specific lattice observed by STEM (C) is lower than that of either tetragonal P4mm or orthorhombic Amm2. (E and F) Unit cell c/a ratios for Sm-PMN-PT and PMN-30PT crystals, respectively. The color of the circles indicates the c/a ratio for each uni
In a paper published in the journal Science on April 19, 2019, multiple researchers affiliated with the Materials Research Institute and labs in China, Australia and the United States report a piezoelectric material with the highest piezoelectric charge to date. Piezoelectrics are widely used as sensors, transducers, in electromechanical systems and in ultrasound. In this case, the relaxor perovskite oxide single crystal is doped with the rare-earth element samarium. MRI-affiliated authors include lead author Fei Li, Long-Qing Chen, Thomas Shrout and Shujun Zhang.
Giant piezoelectricity of Sm-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 single crystals
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