1d:T411,The piezoelectric properties of relaxor based ferroelectric single crystals, such as Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 and Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 were investigated for electromechanical actuators. In contrast to polycrystalline materials such as Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, morphotropic phase boundary compositions were not essential for high piezoelectric strain. Piezoelectric coefficients (d33’s)>2500 pC/N and subsequent strain levels up to >0.6% with minimal hysteresis were observed. Crystallographically, high strains are achieved for 〈001〉 oriented rhombohedral crystals, although 〈111〉 is the polar direction. Ultrahigh strain levels up to 1.7%, an order of magnitude larger than those available from conventional piezoelectric and electrostrictive ceramics, could be achieved being related to an E-field induced phase transformation. High electromechanical coupling (k33)>90% and low dielectric loss <1%, along with large strain make these crystals promising candidates for high performance solid state actuators.1e:T546,This article attempts to review a number of macroscopic measurements which have been used to explore the electrical, mechanical, thermal, and optical characteristics of relaxor ferroelectrics and to authenticate the compositional heterogeneity model which was first proposed by G.A. Smolenskii to describe these materials. In this connection the work of N. Setter on order disorder in lead scandium tantate is discussed to clearly establish the role of compositional heterogeneity. To demonstrate the very wide temperature range above the dielectric permittivity maximum Tm over which large values of RMS polarization persists, electrostrictive spontaneous strain and quadratic electro-optic measurements on lead magnesium niobate and on the tungsten bronze structure ferroelectric barium strontium niobate are introduced. In order to validate the hypothesis that the polar micro regions which exist above Tm are in dynamical disorder, measurements of the field induced electrostriction are reviewed. From the aging behavior of suitably doped relaxor compositions it is suggested that because of internal heterogeneity local and global symmetries differ in the relaxor and the consequences of these differences are discussed with respect to the poling: depoling behavior and to the low temperature dispersion in lead barium niobate bronze structures.1f:T429,High-performance piezoelectrics benefit transducers and sensors in a variety of electromechanical applications. The materials with the highest piezoelectric charge coefficients (d ₃₃) are relaxor-PbTiO₃ crystals, which were discovered two decades ago. We successfully grew Sm-doped Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ (Sm-PMN-PT) single crystals with even higher d ₃₃ values ranging from 3400 to 4100 picocoulombs per newton, with variation below 20% over the as-grown crystal boule, exhibiting good property uniformity. We characterized the Sm-PMN-PT on the atomic scale with scanning transmission electron microscopy and made first-principles calculations to determine that the giant piezoelectric properties arise from the enhanced local structural heterogeneity introduced by Sm³⁺ dopants. Rare-earth doping is thus identified as a general strategy for introducing local structural heterogeneity in order to enhance the piezoelectricity of relaxor ferroelectric crystals.20:T4f9,Devonshire theory provides a successful phenomenological description of many cubic perovskite ferroelectrics such as ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_{3}$ via a sixth-order expansion of the free energy in the polar order parameter. However, the recent discovery of a novel monoclinic ferroelectric phase in the PZT system by Noheda et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 2059 (1999)] poses a challenge to this theory. Here, we confirm that the sixth-order Devonshire theory cannot support a monoclinic phase, and consider extensions of the theory to higher orders. We show that an eighth-order theory allows for three kinds of equil

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