Direct observation of the ferroelectric polarization in the layered perovskite Bi{sub 4}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 12}

Journal Article · Fri Oct 14 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4961719· OSTI ID:22597606

Urushihara, Daisuke; Asaka, Toru ^[1]; Komabuchi, Mai; Fukuda, Koichiro ^[1]; Ishizawa, Nobuo ^[2]; Iwata, Makoto ^[3]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya 466-8555 (Japan)
2. Advanced Ceramics Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Tajimi 507-0071 (Japan)
3. Department of Physical Science and Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya 466-8555 (Japan)

We investigated the crystal structure and ferroelectric domains of Bi{sub 4}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 12} (BTO) by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and single-crystal X-ray diffractometry. From the extinction rule, we determined that the space group in the ferroelectric phase of BTO is P1a1 rather than B2cb and B1a1 which have been proposed previously. We successfully refined the crystal structure based on the space group P1a1. The 180° and 90° ferroelectric domain structures were observed by the [001]-zone dark-field TEM imaging. In the 180° domain structure, we determined that one component of the polarization vector is parallel to the a-axis. An annular bright-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ABF-STEM) was performed for the direct observation of the crystal structures. The ABF-STEM images displayed the contrasts with respect to every atomic position in spite of the highly distorted structure of BTO. We could evaluate the tilting and distortion of the [TiO{sub 6}] octahedra relatively. Therefore, we directly observed the ferroelectric displacements of Bi and Ti ions.

• OSTI ID: 22597606
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 14; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BISMUTH COMPOUNDS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DOMAIN STRUCTURE
ELECTRONS
FERROELECTRIC MATERIALS
IMAGES
MONOCRYSTALS
PEROVSKITE
POLARIZATION
SPACE GROUPS
TITANATES
TITANIUM IONS
TITANIUM OXIDES
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION