Local hysteresis and grain size effect in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 thin films

The local piezoelectric properties of relaxor ferroelectric films of solid solutions 0.9Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.1PbTiO(3) were investigated by scanning force microscopy (SFM) in a piezoelectric contact mode. The piezoelectric hysteresis loops were acquired in the interior of grains of different sizes. A clear correlation between the values of the effective piezoelectric coefficients, d(eff), and the size of the respective grains is observed. Small grains exhibit slim piezoelectric hysteresis loops with low remanent d(eff), whereas relatively strong piezoelectric activity is characteristic of larger grains. Part of the grains (similar to20-25%) is strongly polarized without application of a dc field. The nature of both phenomena is discussed in terms of the internal bias field and grain size effects on the dynamics of nanopolar clusters. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.