Origin of Improvement in Mechanical Quality Factor in Acceptor-Doped Relaxor-Based Ferroelectric Single Crystals

Abstract

Ferroelectric materials with high mechanical quality factors ${Q}_{m}$ are used in high-power electromechanical devices, but the physical mechanism of ${Q}_{m}$ enhancement is not well understood. This study uses Rayleigh analysis to quantitatively investigate the pinning effect in acceptor-doped relaxor ferroelectric crystals. Enhancement of the longitudinal factor ${Q}_{33}$ is attributed to restricted polarization rotation, while that of the shear factor ${Q}_{15}$ is ascribed to both polarization rotation and clamped domain-wall motion. This insight into the underlying physics will guide the material optimization of device performance in $e.g.$ transducers and sensors.