Polarization reversal study using ultrasound

We found that the sound velocity changes drastically near the coercive field for a 0.955Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.045PbTiO3 ferroelectric single crystal, which reflects that domain rotation occurred during polarization switching. This velocity change associated with polarization switching provides a powerful method to study the dynamics of polarization reversal process in nontransparent ferroelectric crystals. A complete phase velocity-electric field loop was measured quasi-statically in a switching cycle and compared with the polarization hysteresis loop. In addition, two attenuation peaks were found in the switching cycle, which indicates that two domain switching processes are involved in the polarization reversal.