High-precision
piezo actuators necessitate dielectrics with high
electrostrain performance with low hysteresis. Polarity-modulated
(Sr0.7Bi0.2□0.1)TiO3-based
ceramics exhibit extraordinarily discrete multiphase coexistence regions:
(i) the relaxor phase coexistence (RPC) region with local weakly polar
tetragonal (T) and pseudocubic (Pc) short-range polar
nanodomains and (ii) the ferroelectric phase coexistence (FPC) region
with T long-range domains and Pc nanodomains. The
RPC composition features a specially high and pure electrostrain performance
with near-zero hysteresis (S ∼ 0.185%, Q33 ∼ 0.038 m4·C–2), which is double those of conventional Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-based ceramics. Particular interest is paid
to the RPC and FPC with multiscale characterization to unravel local
structure–performance relationships. Guided by piezoelectric
force microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and phase-field
simulations, the RPC composition with multiphase low-angle weakly
polar nanodomains shows local structural heterogeneity and contributes
to a flat local free energy profile and thus to nanodomain switching
and superior electrostrain performance, in contrast to the FPC composition
with a macroscopic domain that shows stark hysteresis. This work provides
a paradigm to design high-precision actuator materials with large
electrostrain and ultralow hysteresis, extending our knowledge of
multiphase coexistence species in ferroelectrics.