Domain structure and polarization properties of lanthanum-substituted bismuth titanate single crystals

Single crystals of bismuth titanate (BiT) and lanthanum-substituted BiT [Bi4−xLaxTi3O12 (BLT)] were grown by a self-flux method. BLT (x=0.85) showed a smaller remanent polarization (2Pr) along the a(b) axis of 41 μC/cm2 than 98 μC/cm2 for BiT, which mainly originates in its smaller ionic displacements along the a axis. Striped 90° domain walls as well as head-to-head and tail-to-tail 180° domain walls were observed for both crystals, and La substitution led to a marked decrease in the 90° domain width from 8.5 μm (BiT) to 2.5 μm for BLT (x=1.20). Piezoelectric-force microscope observations suggested that antiphase domain boundary (ADB) is present only for BLT and the ADB plays an important role in the formation of the 90° domain.