Abstract

Structural phase transformations of [110] electric field cooled (FC) Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-30%PbTiO3 (PMN-30%PT) crystals have been performed by X-ray diffraction. A phase sequence of cubic (C) à tetragonal (T) à orthorhombic (O) à monoclinic (M B ) was found on field-cooling (FC); and a R à M B à O one was observed with increasing field beginning from the zero field-cooled (ZFC) condition at room temperature. The application of the [110] electric field induced a dramatic change in the phase sequence in the FC condition, compared to the corresponding data for PMN-30%PT crystals in a [001] field, which shows that the phase sequence in the FC condition is altered by the crystallographic direction along which a modest electric field (E) is applied. Only when E is applied along [110] are intermediate O and M B phases observed.