Electric-field-induced internal deformation in piezoelectric BiB ₃O₆ crystals

For the first time electric-field-induced atomic displacements (internal strains) in non-ferroelectric polar BiB₃O₆ single crystal plates (point symmetry 2) were investigated using X-ray diffraction technique. The intensity variations of selected Bragg reflections were collected for three different orientations of the applied external electric field vector with respect to the crystal lattice and used for calculating the microscopic structural response of BiB₃O₆. Due to the limited number of the reflections providing measurable changes in Bragg intensities we restricted ourselves in analyzing the shift of the B₃O₆ sublattice relative to the Bi one. In addition, we considered the deformation of the Bi-O, B(1)-O and B(2)-O bond lengths and identified the [B(2)O₃] group as the most sensitive structural unit to an external electric perturbation. 2008 WILEYNCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.