Room-Temperature Large and Reversible Modulation of Photoluminescence by in Situ Electric Field in Ergodic Relaxor Ferroelectrics.

Ferroelectric oxides with luminescent ions hold great promise in future optoelectronic devices because of their unique photoluminescence and inherent ferroelectric properties. Intriguingly, the photoluminescence performance of ferroelectric ceramics could be modulated by an external electric field. However, researchers face a current challenge of the diminutive extent and degree of reversibility of the field-driven modification that hinder their use in room-temperature practical applications. Within the scope of current contribution in rare-earth-doped bismuth sodium titanate relaxors, the most important information to be noted is the shifting of the depolarization temperature toward room temperature and the resulting considerable enhancement in ergodicity, as evidenced by the dielectric properties, polarization, and strain hysteresis, as well as the in situ Raman/X-ray diffraction studies. After the introduction of 1 mol % Eu, the induced composition and charge disorders disrupt the original long-range ferroelectric macrodomains into randomly dynamic and weakly correlated polar nanoregions, which facilitates a reversible transformation between polar nanoregions and unstable ferroelectric state under an electric field, engendering a large strain. By virtue of this, both the extent and degree of reversibility of photoluminescence modulation are enhanced (∼60%) considerably, and room-temperature in situ tunable photoluminescence response is then achieved under electric field. These should be helpful for the realization of regulating the physical couplings (photoluminescent-ferroelectrics) in multifunctional inorganic ferroelectrics with a high ergodic state by reversibly tuning the structural symmetry.