Atomic force microscopy studies of twins in yttrium-doped barium titanate

Barium titanate is the main constituent of PTC materials and their electric properties are sensitive to microstructure and defects, in atomic scale, that are significantly affected by processing parameters. The microstructure of barium titanate doped with yttrium was investigated using topographic images obtained by AFM in contact mode. The AFM images of barium titanate doped with yttrium showed the effect of large grains with double twins at different (1 1 1) planes.