Dynamics of polarization reversal in neodymium-doped PMN-PT ceramic

In this investigation, we present a comparative dynamic scaling analysis of switching and non-switching loops for PMN-PT ceramic and its neodymium-doped counterpart. The results demonstrate that both the samples exhibit similar scaling relations at high fields, suggesting that their distinct piezoelectric behaviour primarily stems from their polarization dynamics at low fields. For E < 4kV/cm, the switching polarization for PMN-PT and Nd:PMNPT follows the scaling relations: < A(SW) >= 1.65 * E(5.89)f(-0.27) and < A(SW) >= 34.5 * E(3.4)f(-0.2), respectively. On the other hand, non-switching polarization for the two samples follows the relations: < A(SW) >= 2.26 * E(4.28)f(-0.15) and < A(SW) >= 65.9 * E(1.95)f(-0.05), respectively. These scaling relations suggest that switching as well as nonswitching polarization for Nd:PMN-PT respond faster to changing applied field as compared to their PMN-PT counterparts. We argue that the proportionality constants in two scaling relations have significant effect on the electromechanical behaviour of piezoceramics and should be evaluated in forthcoming dynamic scaling investigations. The kinetics of domain reversal, investigated using the Kolmogorov-Avrami-Ishibashi (KAI) model, suggest that the crystallographic domains in both the samples exhibit nucleation limited-switching (NLS) behaviour. We believe that our work will stimulate investigations on other piezoelectrics to corelate their functional response with the underlying dynamics and kinetics of polarization rotation.