Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.84, No.9, 2091-2095, 2001
Direct compositional analysis of ordered domains in pure and La-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3 by analytical electron microscopy techniques
The ordered domain structures in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3 (PMN) and Pb1-xLax(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3 are identified using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and nanobeam diffractometry (NBD). The chemical compositions in the ordered domains and in the disordered matrices are also acquired using energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The best matching computer-simulated HRTEM image has a Mg2+/Nb2+ ratio of (1)/(2). There is no obvious chemical composition difference between the ordered domains and the disordered matrices. The number of the normalized total positive valence electrons remains almost constant in the ordered domains and in the disordered matrices for all the samples. The reason for the growth of the ordered domains in La-doped PMN also is discussed.