Detecting strain-free boundaries in multi-domain BiFeO3 - PbTiO3 crystals

The requested beamtime is the key part of the three-years long research project (“Phase coexistence and strain-free boundaries in single crystals of functional ferroic materials”) which is granted to the proposers jointly by the Israel Science Foundation and Natural Science Foundation of China. We propose multi-temperature high-resolution reciprocal space mapping for the investigation of the phase coexistence in functional perovskite oxides, specifically focusing on BiFeO3 - PbTiO3 solid solution where the coexistence of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases is confirmed. We question if such phases may connect to one another via strain-free planar interfaces (similar to “habit planes” in martensites). We request beamtime at the BM01 (or similar) beamline, which has all the necessary requirements for the experiment.