A nondestructive pyroelectric display of an antiparallel polarization distribution in single-crystal barium titanate

An optical point heat source, in conjunction with a mechanically driven raster scan of 100 lines/cm, has been used to demonstrate the principle of a nondestructive pyroelectric method for studying antiparallel polarization distributions in opaquely electroded single crystals of barium titanate. By comparing a pyrograph obtained by this technique with the corresponding optical micrograph of the etched surface of the crystal, it is shown that the resolution of the present arrangement, as limited by the effective heat-source diameter, will allow the detection of homogeneously poled regions having surface dimensions greater, similar 50 μm.