A pre-characterisation facility for all excitations users developed through a study of quasiparticle breakdown in new relaxor ferroelectrics

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Ferroelectrics are a central component of ultrasound imaging important for medical and industrial applications. The standard material for thesedevices is currently single crystals of lead-based relaxor ferroelectrics. These materials have led to a new series of applications owing to theirexceptional piezoelectric properties, large tolerance to strain and resistance to cracking in single crystalline form. However, the use of lead basedcrystals is being phased out due to environmental concerns. New materials need to be discovered to replace these lead-based single crystals. The scientific focus of the project will be to investigate the lattice dynamics in lead-free candidate materials using neutron spectroscopy,and to relate these results to the materials piezoelectric properties. The facility development focus is twofold. First, imaging techniques will bedeveloped to allow sample crystallinity and chemical homogeneity to be investigated, with the goal of providing such a capability on the ALF teststation for use by all ISIS users. Second, the spectroscopy part of the project requires detailed analysis combining large datasets, integrationwith first-principles modelling codes, and resolution convolution. This will be achieved using the PACE software that is being developed at ISISseparately. The student's involvement will be at the scientific commissioning stage.