Effect of ZnO and CuO on the Sintering Temperature and Piezoelectric Properties of a Hard Piezoelectric Ceramic |
| |
| Authors: | Cheol-Woo Ahn Hyun-Cheol Song Sahn Nahm Shashank Priya Seung-Ho Park Kenji Uchino Hyeung-Gyu Lee Hwack-Joo Lee |
| |
| Affiliation: | Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019; International Center for Actuators and Transducers, Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802; Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Gyeonggi-do 463-816, Korea; New Materials Evaluation Center, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Taejon 305-600, Korea |
| |
| Abstract: | Hard piezoelectrics with high dielectric and piezoelectric constants are used for high-power applications. However, the sintering temperature of these ceramics is high, around 1200°C, restricting the usage of cheap base metal electrodes in fabrication of multi-layer components. This study investigates the effect of CuO and ZnO on the sintering temperature of a hard piezoelectric, APC 841, which is a MnO2- and Nb2O5-modified PZT. The addition of CuO decreased the sintering temperature through the formation of a liquid phase. However, the piezoelectric properties of the CuO-added ceramics sintered at ≤950°C were lower than the desired values. The addition of ZnO resulted in a significant improvement in the piezoelectric properties. This enhancement was attributed to the formation of a homogeneous microstructure with large grains. The APC 841+0.2 wt% CuO+1.1 wt% ZnO ceramics sintered at 950°C showed excellent piezoelectric and dielectric properties with values of k p=0.532, Q m=750, d 33=351 pC/N, ?33/?o=1337, and T c=280°C. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
