Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.101, No.6, 2571-2577, 2018
Phase transition of Eu2Ti2O7 under high pressure and a new ferroelectric phase with perovskite-like layered structure
Ferroelectrics with perovskite-like layered (PL) structure are well-known for their high T-c and the application prospect of high-temperature-piezoelectric sensing. In this study, the PL-structure Eu2Ti2O7 was prepared by 1-step high-pressure sintering, which show the pyrochlore structure of Eu2Ti2O7 would change into PL structure at 11 GPa, 1300 degrees C. The PL-structure Eu2Ti2O7 is metastable, which will change back to pyrochlore structure at about 900 degrees C in the air. The PL-structure Eu2Ti2O7 was confirmed as a high-temperature ferroelectric material for the first time. The ferroelectric domain switching was directly observed using piezoelectric force microscope. The piezoelectric constant of the PL Eu2Ti2O7 ceramic was measured as 0.7-0.9 pC/N and its thermal depoling temperature (T-d) was determined as 800 degrees C, which is associated with the PL-pyrochlore transition.