Raman spectra of (K, Na)(Nb, Ta)O3 single crystal

The Raman scattering spectra for lead-free piezoelectric single crystal (K,Na)(Nb,Ta)O3 (KNNT) were intensively investigated to explore its crystallographic structure. For the [011]C oriented sample, 12 Raman peaks were identified from the room temperature Raman spectrum. The υ3, υ4 and υ6 modes which should be Raman silent in normal perovskites were observed due to the low symmetry (Pm) of KNNT single crystal. The temperature dependent Raman spectra indicated that the orthorhombic-tetragonal phase transition happened at about 68 °C, and the Curie temperature (TC) is about 225 °C. The merging of 2 υ5 modes at TC was ascribed to the vanishing of polarization. The backscattering polarized Raman spectra of KNNT single crystals with different orientations were analyzed. The Raman modes were identified using polarized selection rules based on group theory.