Development of ferroelectric order in relaxor (formula presented)

The microstructure and phase transition in relaxor ferroelectric (formula presented) (PMN) and its solid solution with (formula presented) (PT), (formula presented) remain to be some of the most puzzling issues of solid-state science. In the present work we have investigated the evolution of the phase symmetry in (formula presented) ceramics as a function of temperature (formula presented) and composition (formula presented) by means of high-resolution synchrotron x-ray diffraction. Structural analysis based on the experimental data reveals that the substitution of (formula presented) for the complex B-site (formula presented) ions results in the development of a clean rhombohedral phase at a PT concentration as low as 5%. The results provide insight into the development of ferroelectric order in PMN-PT, which has been discussed in light of the kinetics of polar nanoregions and the physical models of the relaxor ferroelectrics to illustrate the structural evolution from a relaxor to a ferroelectric state.