Quantitative mapping of nanotwin variants in the bulk

International audienceCrystallographic twins are critical to the properties of numerous materials from magnesium alloys to piezoelectrics. Since the onset of the twin formation is highly sensitive to the triaxial mechanical boundary conditions, non-destructive bulk microscopy techniques are required. Elastic strains can be mapped via X-ray diffraction with a 10 0-20 0 nm resolution. However, the interplay of strains with nanotwins cannot be characterized. Here, a method based on dark-field X-ray microscopy to quantify the density of nanotwin variants with twin lamellae of sizes as small as several tens of nanometers in embedded subvolumes (70x20 0x60 0 nm 3 ) in millimeter-sized samples is introduced. The methodology is corroborated by correlating the local density of twin variants to the long-ranging strain fields for a high-performance piezoelectric material. The method facilitates direct, in situ mapping and quantification of nanoscale structural changes together with their elastic driving fields, which is the key towards controlling and engineering material?s performance at nanometric scales. ? 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

High temperature creep-mediated functionality in polycrystalline barium titanate

Dislocations in oxides can be described as charged line defects and means for one-dimensional doping, which can tune electrical and thermal properties. Furthermore, theoretically it was shown that dislocations can pin ferroelectric domain walls. Broader application of this concept hinges on the development of a methodology to avail this approach to polycrystalline ceramics. To this end, we use different creep mechanisms as a method to introduce multidimensional defects and quantify structural changes. A deformation map for fine-grained barium titanate is provided and the influences of the defects and creep regimes are correlated in this first study to modifications of electrical conductivity, dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties. A plastic deformation of 1.29% resulted in an increase in the Curie temperature by 5 degrees C and a decrease in electromechanical strain by 30%, pointing toward electromechanical hardening by dislocations