Reinvestigating atomic ordering inK0.5Na0.5NbO3and its impact on ferroelectric properties

In the present work, we reinvestigate the atomic ordering of a Pb-free morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) compositionviz.,K0.5Na0.5NbO3(KNN50) and its vicinity at various length scales using high-resolution x-ray diffraction and pair distribution function data. We have observed a monoclinic phase (Space Group: Pm) at long/short ranges differing from a very recent report by Sahaet al2024J. Phys.: Condens. Matter36425703. Moreover, the ferroelectric (polarization) dominance of short-range ordering (SRO) over long-range ordering (LRO) has been observed and quantified for the very first time using the amplitude of the ferroelectric frozen phonon mode (Γ4-) (corresponding to the high symmetry cubic phase), thereby structure is linked with ferroelectric (or polarization) property for a widely studied MPB systemviz.,KxNa(1-x)NbO3(KNNxforx= 0.40, 0.50, and 0.60). Two uniquely identified monoclinic phases has been observed for SRO (MSRO) and LRO (MLRO) for all the compositions. The amplitude of ferroelectric frozen phonon mode (Γ4-) corresponding toMSROis significantly higher (≈150%-180%) thanMLRO. A peak is observed in the amplitude ofΓ4-and intensity of prominent Raman peaks (ν₁andν₅) forx= 0.50, which is held responsible for high physical propertiesviz.,dielectric permittivity, piezoelectric coefficient, remnant polarization, electromechanical coupling coefficient, and many more widely reported in literature for KNN50.