Effect of temperature on dislocation-tuned dielectricity and piezoelectricity in single-crystal BaTiO₃

The pinning-controlled mobility of ferroelectric/ferroelastic domain walls is an important part of managing polarization switching and determining the final properties of ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials. Here, we assess the impact of temperature on dislocation-induced domain wall pinning as well as on dislocation-tuned dielectric and piezoelectric response in barium titanate single crystals. Our solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy results indicate that the entire sample exclusively permits in-plane domains, with their distribution remaining insensitive to temperature changes below the Curie temperature (T-C). The domain wall pinning field monotonically decreases with increasing temperature up to T-C, as evidenced by a combination of experimental observations and phase-field simulations. Our work highlights the promising potential of dislocation engineering in controlling domain wall mobility within bulk ferroelectrics.