Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

Characterization of Full Set Material Constants and Their Temperature Dependence for Piezoelectric Materials Using Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy
Published on: April 27, 2016
Structural description of the macroscopic piezo- and ferroelectric properties of lead zirconate titanate
M Hinterstein1, J Rouquette, J Haines
1Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaften, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
An in situ structural description of the origin of the ferroelectric properties as a function of the applied electric field E was obtained by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. A setup was used to average the effects of the preferred orientation induced by the strong piezoelectric strain and solve in situ the crystal structure as a function of the applied electric field. Hence, we were able to describe the microscopic origin of the macroscopic ferro- and piezoelectric properties of the most widely used ferroelectric material, lead zirconate titanate.
Related Concept Videos
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Mechanically-gated Ion Channels
