DIELECTRIC RELAXATION BEHAVIOR OF CERAMICS IN THE Pb(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-BaTiO₃-PbTiO₃ SYSTEM

The dielectric properties of ceramics in Pb(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-BaTiO₃-PbTiO₃ system were characterized using dielectric-temperature spectra. A spontaneous (zero field) relaxor-normal ferroelectric tran sition was observed for tetragonal rich compositions. A significant hysteresis effect accompanied by this transition, similar to first-order phase transition of normal ferroelectrics. This behavior was different from that of other relaxors, in which such transitions occurred only under a biased dc field. This observation was explained in terms of a thermally driven transformation from an ensemble of polar microregions to normal long-range ferroelectric state (micro-macro domain transition), which was attributed to the internal field resulting from the tetragonal strain.