A rapid two-dimensional data collection system for the study of ferroelectric materials under external applied electric fields.

Synchrotron X-rays on the Swiss Norwegian Beamline and BM28 (XMaS) at the ESRF have been used to record the diffraction response of the PMN-PT relaxor piezoelectric 67% Pb(MgNb)O-33% PbTiO as a function of externally applied electric field. A DC field in the range 0-18 kV cm was applied along the [001] pseudo-cubic direction using a specially designed sample cell for single-crystal diffraction experiments. The cell allowed data to be collected on a Pilatus 2M area detector in a large volume of reciprocal space using transmission geometry.