Growth and Characterization of Er$lt;sup$gt;3+$lt;/sup$gt;-doped Relaxor-based Ferroelectric Crystal PMNT

According to the molar ratio of 0.71Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.26PbTiO3-0.03Pb(Er1/2Nb1/2)O3, Er-doped PMNT polycrystalline material was prepared by two-step solid-state synthesis at elevated temperature. Er-doped PMNT relaxor-based ferroelectric crystal with size of φ25 mm × 100 mm was grown from the stoichiometric melts by vertical Bridgman method. In the ferroelectric crystal with perovskite structure, Er ions were doped into the crystal lattice via one composition of the ternary solid solution compound. The dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties and up-conversion emission performance of Er-doped PMNT crystal wafers were investigated systematically. It is verified that Er-doped PMNT crystal presents the similar electrical properties to those of undoped PMNT crystal. Under the excitation of 980 nm, the crystal also exhibits a strong up-conversion fluorescence emission characteristic to Er ions doped in the medium, and the emission intensity will be enhanced after being poled.