0000000000918942
AUTHOR
Joan J. Carvajal
Room-temperature vibrational properties of potassium gadolinium double tungstate under compression up to 32GPa
Abstract KGd(WO 4 ) 2 has been studied by high-pressure Raman spectroscopy at room temperature up to 32.2 GPa. Evidences of two pressure-driven phase transitions have been detected. The low-pressure monoclinic phase undergoes a phase transition at 7.2(±0.9) GPa. The second transition is found at 14.2(±1.6) GPa. Both transitions are reversible. No evidence of pressure-induced amorphization is found up to 32 GPa. The pressure dependence of the Raman active modes of the low- and high-pressure phases is reported. A Raman mode is detected to exhibit a weak softening in the low-pressure phase. Three Raman modes are also observed to have a similar behavior in the second high-pressure phase. The re…
Scanning probe microscopies applied to the study of the domain wall in a ferroelectric crystal.
Summary Scanning near-field optical microscopy is capable of measuring the topography and optical signals at the same time. This fact makes this technique a valuable tool in the study of materials at nanometric scale and, in particular, of ferroelectric materials, as it permits the study of their domains structure without the need of chemical etching and, therefore, not damaging the surface (as will be demonstrated later). We have measured the scanning near-field optical microscopy transmission, as well as the topography, of an RbTiOPO4 single crystalline slab, which exhibits two different of macroscopic ferroelectric domains. A chemical selective etching has been performed to distinguish b…