Indentation-induced domain switching in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 crystal Original Research Article

Response of ferroelectric domains to mechanical stresses was studied on a <010> oriented piezoelectric 0.65Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.35PbTiO3 (0.65PMN–0.35PT) crystal. Stress-induced domain switching was observed in the stress field of a microindentation and was confined to butterfly-shaped switching zones which extended preferentially along the <101> directions. Based on a critical shear stress criterion, a stress analysis was made to determine the condition for the 90° domain switching. The analysis predicted a hyperbolic contour for the switching-zone boundary, in agreement with the experimental observations.