Institution: | a Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 230031 Hefei, People's Republic of China b Multiphase Reaction Laboratory, Institute of Chemical Metallurgy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, People's Republic of China |
Abstract: | In this paper, the technique of environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) has been employed to investigate the surface defects of the (1 1 1) appearing face in 0.92Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.08PbTiO3 (PZN–8%PT) crystals. From the ESEM images, we succeeded in observing and studying the growth hillocks and etch pits, low-angle grain boundaries, and sub-grain boundaries in (1 1 1) face, which were related to the generation of dislocation and stacking faults, respectively. On the other hand, an image of a unique multi-layer lamellar structure and fine step structure obtained in the (1 1 1) face reveals that the dominant fast growth mechanism of PZN–8%PT crystal grown by the flux method is a sub-step mechanism, unlike the screw dislocation growth mechanism. |