Growth and characterization of ferroelectric Tb2(MoO4)3 crystal

By using Tb4O7 and MoO3 as starting materials, ferroelectric Tb2(MoO4)3 crystal was grown by the Czochralski method. The as-grown crystal was pale green color, transparent and crack-free. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), transmission spectrum, dielectric constant and polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis loop measurements were performed to characterize the crystal. The XRPD confirmed the as-grown crystal to be Tb2(MoO4)3. The transmission spectrum of the crystal showed that its transmittance in the entire visible and most near-infrared region was more than 70% except for an absorption peak around 486 nm. Obvious dielectric anomaly could be observed at low frequencies with increasing temperature through the dielectric constant measurement and the Curie temperature of Tb2(MoO4)3 crystal was determined to be 162.3 °C. The unsaturated P-E hysteresis loops indicated that it was difficult for the ferroelectric domains in Tb2(MoO4)3 crystal to array regularly with repeated switching of the electric field.