Chandra Shekhar Pandey

Incommensurate modulation of calcium barium niobate (CBN28 and Ce:CBN28)

The incommensurately modulated crystal structures of Ca(0.28)Ba(0.72)Nb(2)O(6) (CBN28) and Ce(0.02)Ca(0.25)Ba(0.72)Nb(2)O(6) (Ce:CBN28) were refined in the supercentred setting X4bm(AA0,-AA0) of the 3 + 2-dimensional superspace group P4bm(aa½,-aa½). Both compounds are isostructural with a tetragonal tungsten bronze-type structure. The modulation of CBN28 consists of a wavy distribution of Ba and Ca atoms as well as vacancies on the incompletely occupied Me2 site with 15-fold oxygen coordination. The occupational modulation is coupled with a modulation of the atomic displacement parameters and a very weak modulation of the positional parameters of Me2. The surrounding O atoms show strong displacive modulations with amplitudes up to ca 0.2 Å owing to the cooperative tilting of the rigid NbO(6) octahedra. The Me1 site with 12-fold coordination and Nb atoms are hardly affected by the modulations. Only first-order satellites were observed and the modulations are described by first-order harmonics. In Ce:CBN28 cerium appears to be located on both the Me2 and Me1 sites. Wavevectors and structural modulations are only weakly modified upon substitutional incorporation of 0.02 cerium per formula unit of calcium.

Relaxor behavior of ferroelectric Ca0.22Sr0.12Ba0.66Nb2O6

The relaxor behavior of tetragonal tungsten bronze uniaxial relaxor ferroelectric calcium strontium barium niobate (Ca0.22Sr0.12Ba0.66Nb2O6 or CSBN-22) single crystal was studied by measuring elastic constants and thermal expansion with the aid of resonant ultrasound spectroscopy and dilatometry, respectively, in the temperature range 300 K–1503 K. Thermal expansion yields evidence of the Burns temperature TB and the intermediate characteristic temperature T*, which was also supported by the temperature evolutions of the elastic constants cij. CSBN-22 was found to be ∼2%–3% elastically stiffer than CBN-28. The presented results open the perspective to understand the relaxor behavior of CSBN.

Elastic and piezoelectric constants of tourmaline single crystals at non-ambient temperatures determined by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy

The full sets of elastic constants (considering piezoelectric effect, i.e., taking into account piezoelectric coupling effects) and piezoelectric stress constants of five natural tourmaline single crystals of different chemical composition have been determined from room temperature up to ∼900 K employing resonant ultrasound spectroscopy. Further, the coefficients of thermal expansion were studied in a wide temperature range from 100 K to 950 K. Electron microprobe analysis showed that the chemical composition of investigated samples varied over a wide range, which allows to study the compositional dependence of thermal, elastic, and piezoelectric properties of tourmalines. At room temperature, the piezoelectric constants of tourmalines were found at-least 1.5 times higher than that for α-quartz. Importantly, we find that the application of tourmaline at temperatures up to its decomposition temperature is not limited by phase transitionsor any ultrasound dissipation effects.

Anomalous elastic behavior of relaxor ferroelectric Ca0.28Ba0.72Nb2O6:Ce studied by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy

Elastic behavior of tetragonal tungsten bronze uniaxial relaxor ferroelectric cerium doped Ca0.28Ba0.72Nb2O6 single crystal was investigated employing resonant ultrasound spectroscopy in the temperature range from room temperature up to 1323 K. Doping of cerium lowers the phase transition temperature Tc and Burns temperature Tb significantly, however, intermediate characteristic temperature T* (between the Burns temperature Tb and the temperature of maximum dielectric permittivity Tm) remains same as for pure Ca0.28Ba0.72Nb2O6. All independent elastic constants evolved differently with temperature, reflecting their coupling to different types of the reorientational motion of the polar nanoregions through their interaction with the acoustic waves.

Correlation between dielectric properties and chemical composition of the tourmaline single crystals

Dielectric responses were studied on piezoelectric tourmaline single crystals of widely varying chemical composition from different geological origins. The dielectric constants at constants stress, and dissipation factor were measured as a function of frequency (100-1000 kHz) using method of substitution. A correlation between two independent dielectric constants (along and perpendicular to crystallographic c-axis) is observed, and dependence of dielectric constants on chemical composition is presented.

Relaxor Behavior of Pure and Cerium Doped CaxBa1-xNb2O6

Here we report the relaxor behavior of pure and cerium doped Czochralski grown lead free relaxor ferroelectric single crystals CaxBa1-xNb2O6 (CBN-x) (0.18 ≤ x ≤ 0.35) using temperature dependent elastic behavior. We observed that the dynamic relaxor behavior strongly varies with the variation of Ca content as well as with doping. Evidence is found for a more pronounced relaxor behavior with increasing Ca content and doping. Characteristic temperature T* (temperature at which static behavior of the polar nanoregions begins to appear) found to be unaffected with Ca content variation as well as doping.