LAUSR

Unlike classical ferroelectrics, relaxor ferroelectrics are characterized by their diffuse phase transitions and dielectric properties. They can also exhibit a low coercive field and giant piezoelectric coefficients [1]. These properties are thought to arise from the existence of polar nanoregions in a non-polar matrix or a slush-like response of a nanoscale multi-domain state, but the models are fully predictive [2, 3]. If relaxor ferroelectric materials are to be designed rather than discovered, a complete fundamental understanding of their response to electric field is required – from the micro to atomic length scale. Recent advances in in situ microscopy and STEM detector technologies, such as 4D STEM and differential phase contrast (DPC) imaging [4], have the potential to unlock the structural details needed to explain the remaining mysteries in these materials.