The ferroelectric–antiferroelectric transition in Pb[Zr0.9(CexTi1−x)0.1]O3 due to Ce4+ doping

The effect of B-site substitution of Ce4+ on the microstructure of the Pb[Zr0.9(CexTi1−x)0.1]O3 (0≤x≤0.7) ceramics is studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). For x=0, only 12{hkl} superlattice reflections are found in the selected area diffraction patterns (SADPs), which correspond to the anti-phase rotation of the oxygen octahedra. Small amount of Ce4+ substitution causes the in-phase tilting of the oxygen octahedra and results in the 12{hk0} superlattice reflections. With 7 mol% addition of Ce4+ on the B-site, the superlattice reflections at the 14{hk0} pseudocubic positions can be observed, indicative of the existence of the antiferroelectric (AFE) phase. The result conforms to the polarization–electric field (P–E) hysteresis loop measurements on the corresponding bulk ceramic samples.