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KBiNb 2 O 7 was prepared from RbBiNb 2 O 7 by a sequence of cation exchange reactions which first convert RbBiNb 2 O 7 to LiBiNb 2 O 7 , before KBiNb 2 O 7 is formed by a further K-for-Li cation exchange. A combination of neutron, synchrotron X-ray and electron diffraction data reveal that KBiNb 2 O 7 adopts a polar, layered, perovskite structure (space group A 11 m ) in which the BiNb 2 O 7 layers are stacked in a (0, ½, z ) arrangement, with the K + cations located in half of the available 10-coordinate interlayer cation sites. The inversion symmetry of the phase is broken by a large displacement of the Bi 3+ cations parallel to the y -axis. HAADF-STEM images reveal that KBiNb 2 O 7 exhibits frequent stacking faults which convert the (0, ½, z ) layer stacking to (½, 0, z ) stacking and vice versa , essentially switching the x - and y -axes of the material. By fitting the complex diffraction peak shape of the SXRD data collected from KBiNb 2 O 7 it is estimated that each layer has approximately a 9% chance of being defective – a high level which is attributed to the lack of cooperative NbO 6 tilting in the material, which limits the lattice strain associated with each fault. 

Solid state compounds which exhibit non-centrosymmetric crystal structures are of great interest due to the physical properties they can exhibit. The ‘hybrid improper’ mechanism – in which two non-polar distortion modes couple to, and stabilize, a further polar distortion mode, yielding an acentric crystal structure – offers opportunities to prepare a range of novel non-centrosymmetric solids, but examples of compounds exhibiting acentric crystal structures stabilized by this mechanism are still relatively rare. Here we describe a series of bismuth-containing layered perovskite oxide phases, RbBiNb 2 O 7 , LiBiNb 2 O 7 and NaBiNb 2 O 7 , which have structural frameworks compatible with hybrid-improper ferroelectricity, but also contain Bi 3+ cations which are often observed to stabilize acentric crystal structures due to their 6s 2 electronic configurations. Neutron powder diffraction analysis reveals that RbBiNb 2 O 7 and LiBiNb 2 O 7 adopt polar crystal structures (space groups I 2 cm and B 2 cm respectively), compatible with stabilization by a trilinear coupling of non-polar and polar modes. The Bi 3+ cations present are observed to enhance the magnitude of the polar distortions of these phases, but are not the primary driver for the acentric structure, as evidenced by the observation that replacing the Bi 3+ cations with Nd 3+ cations does not change the structural symmetry of the compounds. In contrast the non-centrosymmetric, but non-polar structure of NaBiNb 2 O 7 (space group P 2 1 2 1 2 1 ) differs significantly from the centrosymmetric structure of NaNdNb 2 O 7 , which is attributed to a second-order Jahn-Teller distortion associated with the presence of the Bi 3+ cations. 

Since the observation that the properties of ferroic domain walls (DWs) can differ significantly from the bulk materials in which they are formed, it has been realized that domain wall engineering offers exciting new opportunities for nanoelectronics and nanodevice architectures. Here, a novel improper ferroelectric, CsNbW₂O₉, with the hexagonal tungsten bronze structure, is reported. Powder neutron diffraction and symmetry mode analysis indicate that the improper transition (T_C= 1100 K) involves unit cell tripling, reminiscent of the hexagonal rare earth manganites. However, in contrast to the manganites, the symmetry breaking in CsNbW₂O₉is electronically driven (i.e., purely displacive) via the second‐order Jahn–Teller effect in contrast to the geometrically driven tilt mechanism of the manganites. Nevertheless CsNbW₂O₉displays the same kinds of domain microstructure as those found in the manganites, such as the characteristic six‐domain “cloverleaf” vertices and DW sections with polar discontinuities. The discovery of a completely new material system, with domain patterns already known to generate interesting functionality in the manganites, is important for the emerging field of DW nanoelectronics.