Time-resolved x-ray diffraction study of the piezoelectric crystal response to a fast change of an applied electric field

Time-resolved measurements of the macroscopic and microscopic strains in piezoelectric crystals were performed with a novel data acquisition technique implemented on the basis of a field programmed gate array system. Both types of strains were induced in a crystal by an applied periodic high voltage with fast (within 100 ns) switches between opposite polarities and measured simultaneously by respective angular shifts and integrated intensities of synchrotron x-ray diffraction rocking curves. The time resolution achieved with the developed data acquisition system was 100 ns. The paper demonstrates the particular application of this technique for the investigations of time dynamics of lattice constants and atomic positions in a unit cell for piezoelectric BiB₃ O₆ and Li₂ SO₄ H₂ O crystals. It has been found that 100 ns fast rising time of an applied external electric field induces oscillations of the crystal lattice constants, visible as oscillations of Bragg peak angular positions. At the same time, these oscillations are not observed for the Bragg intensities, i.e., for fractional positions of atoms in the unit cell and correspondingly for bond lengths. The results allow suggesting a model for the mutual interconnection between the deformation of bond lengths and lattice constants in piezoelectric crystals.