Quantitative Microanalysis of (1–x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃×xPbTiO₃(PMNT) Ferroelectric Ceramics

Abstract Optimized quantitative electron-probe microanalysis was applied for compositional characterization of a ferroelectric ceramic single crystal that was made from the complex perovskite-type solid-solution (1–x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃×xPbTiO₃(PMNT). Cation concentrations were determined with high accuracy and ultimate relative experimental uncertainty of ≤±1%, showing that the average chemical composition of the crystal corresponds to Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.67Ti_0.33O₃(i.e.,x=0.33), which is close to the morphotropic phase boundary composition. Over the PMNT single crystal slight compositional heterogeneity was measured for concentrations of the perovskite B-site cations Ti⁴⁺, Mg²⁺, and Nb⁵⁺, with variations up to ±2.3%, whereas the Pb concentration remained uniform within a variation below ±0.5%.