Dielectric and Piezoelectric Properties of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3–Pb(Mg1/2W1/2)O3 Ceramics

Data are presented on the phase composition, crystal structure, microstructure, and dielectric and piezoelectric properties of (1 – y)[(1 – x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–xPbTiO₃]–yPb(Mg_1/2W_1/2)O₃ (x = 0.30–0.36; y = 0, 0.05, 0.10) ceramics. It is shown that the use of fine-particle magnesia as a starting reagent ensures the formation of single-phase materials. The ceramics with a rhombohedral structure are found to exhibit relaxor behavior. Increasing the content of the Pb(Mg_1/2W_1/2)O₃ perovskite leads to ordering of the domain structure of poled ceramics and increases their piezoelectric charge coefficient d ₃₁ and the width of their phase transitions.     

Dielectric and electromechanical properties of Mn-doped 0.2875 Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.2875 Pb(Yb1/2Nb1/2)O3–0.425 PbTiO3 ceramics

In this study, 0.2875 Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–0.2875 Pb(Yb_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃–0.425 PbTiO₃ (0.2875PMN–0.2875PYbN–0.425PT) ternary ceramic composition was doped with 1 mol% MnCO₃ in order to induce hard character for potential high-power applications. Dense 0.2875PMN–0.2875PYbN–0.425PT ceramics with 1 mol% MnCO₃ addition were fabricated after sintering at 1100 °C. ε _r = 1728, tanδ = 0.35 %, d ₃₃ = 320 pC/N, d ₃₁ = ?103 pC/N, Q _m = 467, k _p = 0.40, k ₃₁ = 0.24, k ₃₃ = 0.49, and T _c = 280 °C were measured for Mn-doped ceramics. However, undoped ceramics had ε _r = 2380, tanδ = 1.95 %, d ₃₃ = 433 pC/N, d ₃₁ = ?145 pC/N, Q _m = 60, k _p = 0.43, k ₃₁ = 0.27, k ₃₃ = 0.48, and T _c = 285 °C. Acceptor Mn²⁺/Mn³⁺ ions presumably substituted B-site ions in the perovskite structure and formed defect dipole pairs. The electrically “hard” character was induced as a result of the domain wall pinning due to the existing defect pairs. Particularly, increasing Q _m from 60 to 467 and decreasing tanδ from 1.95 to 0.35 % after Mn doping showed that Mn-doped 0.2875PMN–0.2875PYbN–0.425PT ceramics with “hard” character are potential candidates for high-power projector and transducer applications.     

Enhanced thermal stability and large piezoelectric properties of Sm-doped Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O3–Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 multifunctional ceramics

Journal of Materials Science - The crystal structure, electric properties, thermal stability and optical properties of Sm-doped 0.15Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O3–0.50Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.35PbTiO3...     

Complete set of material properties of single domain 0.24Pb(In(1∕2)Nb(1∕2))O(3)-0.49Pb(Mg(1∕3)Nb(2∕3))O(3)-0.27PbTiO(3) single crystal and the orientation effects

Multidomain relaxor-based single crystals have intrigued the enthusiasm of many researchers due to their superior electromechanical properties. In order to understand the physical origin of multidomain properties, one must know the complete set of material coefficients in single domain state. Previous published single domain data were all measured under bias because single domain state is unstable. Here, we report a set of single domain data without bias for rhombohedral 0.24Pb(In(1∕2)Nb(1∕2))O(3)-0.49Pb(Mg(1∕3)Nb(2∕3))O(3)-0.27PbTiO(3) single crystal. Comparing rotated coefficients from single domain data with measured multidomain material coefficients, we concluded that the orientation effects account for more than 90% of the observed multidomain properties.     

Effect of La-doping content on the dielectric and ferroelectric properties of 0.88Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.12PbTiO3 ceramics

Dense relaxor ferroelectric 0.88Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–0.12PbTiO₃ (0.88PMN–0.12PT) ceramics with different La-doping contents (0, 1, 2 and 4 at.%) were sintered by using powders synthesized via a solid-state reaction route. The effects of La doping on the microstructures and electric properties of the 0.88PMN–0.12PT ceramics were investigated. It was found that the average grain size, remanent polarization P _r, coercive field E _c, Curie temperature T _c and leakage-current density J of the ferroelectric ceramics decrease significantly with increasing La doping content. The decrease in P _r, E _c and T _c can be understood in term of the fact that the substitution of Pb²⁺ ions by La³⁺ ions suppresses the long-range coupling of BO₆ octahedrons, while the abatement in J can be explained according to the reduction of oxygen vacancies caused by La doping. By fitting the J–E curves, the conduction mechanism of the 0.88PMN–0.12PT ceramics is confirmed to be Ohmic conduction generated from oxygen vacancies. The dielectric and ferroelectric properties of 0.88PMN–0.12PT ceramics are tunable with manipulating the La doping content.     

Low-temperature sintering and piezoelectric properties of Pb(Fe2/3W1/3)O3–added Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3–Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 ceramics

Low-temperature sintering of (a–x)Pb(Zr_0.48Ti_0.52)O₃–bPb(Ni_1/3Nb_2/3) O₃–cPb(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–xPb(Fe_2/3W_1/3)O₃ (a + b + c + x = 1, 0.06 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) ceramics were prepared through two-step synthesis process using perovskites-structured ferroelectric materials Pb(Fe_2/3W_1/3)O₃ (PFW) as a sintering aid. The effects of PFW content on the densification, microstructure, phase structure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the ceramics were investigated. The sintering temperature was reduced from 1,180 °C (without PFW addition) to 940 °C when the material was PFW-doped. PFW-doping increased the sintered density and the average grain size of PFW–PNN–PZN–lead zirconate titanate ceramics. The ceramics sintered at 940 °C for 4 h with x = 0.08 exhibited favorable properties, which were listed as follows: d₃₃ = 496pC/N, εT 33/ε₀ = 3,119, tanδ = 2.1 % and Curie temperature = 242 °C. These values indicated that the newly developed composition might be suitable for multilayer piezoelectric devices application.     

Electromechanical properties and anisotropy of single- and multi-domain 0.72Pb(Mg(1∕3)Nb(2∕3))O(3)-0.28PbTiO(3) single crystals

Complete sets of elastic, piezoelectric, and dielectric constants of 0.72Pb(Mg(1∕3)Nb(2∕3))O(3)-0.28PbTiO(3) single crystal poled along [111](c) (single domain) as well as non-polar axes [001](c) and [011](c) (multidomain) have been measured under natural conditions. These data allowed us to evaluate accurately the extrinsic contributions to the superior piezoelectric properties. Very large extrinsic contributions to the unusual anisotropies in multidomain crystals are confirmed. We found that the instability of domain structures is the origin of the low mechanical quality factor Q for the multidomain relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystals. Our results can provide useful guidance in future design of domain engineered materials.     

Sintering and electrical properties of Nb5+ doped 0.63Bi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3–0.37PbTiO3 piezoelectric ceramics

Nb⁵⁺ doped 0.63Bi(Mg_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃–0.37PbTiO₃ (0.63BMT–0.37PT?+?xNb⁵⁺) ceramics have been fabricated by means of citrate sol–gel method and ordinary sintering. Effects of Nb⁵⁺ doping on the densification and various electrical properties were studied. The results indicated that the addition of a small amount of Nb⁵⁺ gradually changes the crystal structure from a typical rhombohedral-tetragonal coexisted structure to a nearly pure rhombohedral structure. A slight amount of secondary phases start to appear as the doping content of Nb⁵⁺ is more than 1.5?mol%, indicating that the solubility limit of Nb⁵⁺ in the matrix composition is reached. Moreover, electrical properties of the sintered ceramics were obviously changed based on the effect of densification and ionic substitution. 0.63BMT–0.37PT?+?0.005Nb⁵⁺ ceramics sintered at 1,020?°C exhibit optimum properties of piezoelectric constant d₃₃?~?245 pC/N, planar electromechanical coupling factor k_p?~?30?%, $ \varepsilon_{33}^{\text{T}} /\varepsilon_{\text{o}} $ ?~?1,220, and T_c?~?460?°C.     

Effect of micro-region heterogeneity on phase structure and dielectric properties in Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3–BaTiO3 ceramics

The phase structures of PZN-PT-BT ceramics under different synthesizing steps and thermal treatment were investigated. Although the calcinated powders (C.T. = 900 °C) of the compositions in tetragonal area exhibit pure tetragonal structure, the phase structures of the ceramics sintering at higher temperatures (S.T. 1080 °C) are the mixtures of tetragonal and rhombohedral. The content of tetragonal phase in PZN-PT-BT ceramics decreases further after the specimens are annealed. Dielectric and ferroelectric properties were studied. The annealed ceramics have higher average phase transition temperatures, lower frequency dispersions, lower dissipation factors and larger aging rates. The maximum of the dielectric constant and the spontaneous polarization at room temperature are almost unaffected by annealing process. The concept of nano-phase separation is assumed to explain the experimental results.     

Processing and electrical properties of (1 − x)[(1 − y)(Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3)–y(Pb(Yb1/2Nb1/2)O3)]–xPbTiO3 ceramics

Ferroelectric ceramics in the vicinity of morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) with compositions represented as (1 ? x)[(1 ? y)(Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃)–y(Pb(Yb_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃)]–xPbTiO₃ were prepared by solid state reaction. The addition of PYbN to PMN–PT decreased the sintering temperature from 1200 °C (y = 0.25) to 1000 °C (y = 0.75). The PT content, where the MPB was observed, increased with the PYbN addition. A remanent polarization value of 28.5 µC/cm² and a coercive field value of 11 kV/cm were measured from 0.62[0.25PMN–0.75PYbN]–0.38PT ceramics, which were close to the ones measured from PMN–0.32PT ceramics. In addition, the Curie temperature was found to increase with PYbN additions.     

Investigation of phase diagram and electrical properties of xPb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–(1 − x)Pb(Zr0.4Ti0.6)O3 ceramics

Ceramics in PMN–PZT system with formula xPb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–(1 ? x)Pb(Zr_0.4Ti_0.6)O₃ (where x = 0.32, 0.35, 0.38, 0.41) were prepared by the conventional oxide-mixed method. The phase diagram, composition dependent ferroelectric, dielectric, field-induced strain and piezoelectric properties were systematically investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that as-prepared ceramics were of pure perovskite phase and the possible morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) between the tetragonal and pseudo-cubic phase compositions were located near the PMN content of x = 0.38, confirmed by their corresponding ferroelectric, dielectric, field-induced strain and piezoelectric properties. The composition with x = 0.38 possessed the optimum electrical properties since its composition locate close to the MPB where exist multiple polarization directions facilitates domain reorientation and consequently enables the superior electrical properties. The room temperature dielectric permittivity ε _r , tangent loss tan δ, piezoelectric coefficient d ₃₃, electromechanical coupling factor kp, remnant polarization P _r , hysteresis loop squareness R _sq and longitudinal strain of 0.38PMN–0.62PZT ceramics are 2441, 2.08 %, 662 pC/N, 63.5 %, 37.2 μC/cm², 1.51 and 1.9 ‰, respectively, which mean it has a great promise for actuator applications.     

Electromechanical properties of Pb(In(1∕2)Nb(1∕2))O(3)-Pb(Mg(1∕3)Nb(2∕3))O(3)-PbTiO(3) single crystals

The Pb(In(1∕2)Nb(1∕2))O(3)-Pb(Mg(1∕3)Nb(2∕3))O(3)-PbTiO(3) (PIN-PMN-PT) crystals were studied as function of phase and orientation. The properties, including the Curie temperature T(C), ferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition temperature T(R∕O-T), coercive field, and piezoelectric∕dielectric responses, were systematically investigated with respect to the composition of PIN-PMN-PT crystals. The Curie temperature T(C) was found to increase from 160 to 220 °C with ferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition temperature T(R-T) and T(O-T) being in the range of 120-105 °C and105-50 °C, respectively. The piezoelectric activity of PIN-PMN-PT crystals was analyzed by Rayleigh approach. The ultrahigh piezoelectric response for domain engineered [001] (1600-2200 pC∕N) and [011] (830-1550 pC∕N) crystals was believed to be mainly from the intrinsic contribution, whereas the enhanced level of piezoelectric and dielectric losses at the compositions around morphotropic phase boundaries (MPBs) was attributed to the phase boundaries motion.