1000 at 1000: relaxor ferroelectrics undergoing accelerated growth
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1000 at 1000: relaxor ferroelectrics undergoing accelerated growth Alexei A. Bokov1,* 1
and Zuo-Guang Ye1,*
Department of Chemistry and 4D LABS, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
Ó
Springer Science+Business
Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Relaxor ferroelectrics form a peculiar class of ferroelectric materials. Very dissimilar behavior is generally observed in normal ferroelectrics and in relaxor ferroelectrics. The latter are also simply called relaxors or (especially in early literature) ferroelectrics with diffuse phase transition. A comparison of some key features between normal ferroelectrics and relaxors is schematically shown in Fig. 1. Both have a paraelectric phase of nonpolar symmetry at high temperatures, but the normal ferroelectrics transform upon cooling into a polar ferroelectric phase with macroscopic domains, while the canonical relaxors do not undergo structural phase transitions. Instead, they transform to a macroscopically nonpolar relaxor state in which the crystal develops randomly oriented nanosized regions of polar symmetry, commonly
called polar nanoregions. Some properties of relaxors are analogous to those of well-studied magnetic spin glasses, but some others are fundamentally different. Relaxors are used as a component of the high-performance piezoelectric solid solutions and as excellent materials for electromechanical transducers and capacitors due to their unprecedentedly high electrostriction and dielectric constant, respectively. They are also good energy storage materials [2]. Our motivation to write a review on relaxors was mainly driven by the major breakthrough achieved in the piezoelectric performance of single crystals of relaxor-based solid solutions [3]. As we know, development and improvement in the performance of functional materials usually take place gradually. With a few exceptions, it is hardly possible to see a main technical parameter increased sharply by
This editorial is part of our series ‘‘1000 at 1000,’’ highlighting the Journal of Materials Science’s most highly cited publications as part of the journal’s celebration of 1000 issues. This issue features the article: ‘‘Recent progress in relaxor ferroelectrics with perovskite structure.’’ by A. A. Bokov and Z.-G. Ye from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada [1].
Address correspondence to E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05098-0
J Mater Sci
Figure 1 Similarities and differences between typical normal ferroelectrics and canonical relaxor ferroelectrics in terms of local structure, polarization, domains, and dielectric and ferroelectric properties.
J Mater Sci
several times without significant deterioration of other parameters. However, this was exactly what happened with piezoelectric materials in the late 1990s. PZT ceramics (a solid solution of perovskite ferroelectric PbTiO3 and antiferroelectric PbZrO3) have been for decades (and still are) a ubiquitously used piezoelectric materials system. The piezoelectric
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