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Articles you may be interested inTemperature stability of ( [ Na 0.5 K 0.5 NbO 3 ] 0.93 -[ LiTaO 3 ] 0.07 ) lead-free piezoelectric ceramics Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 222902 (2009); 10.1063/1.3153157 Improved temperature stability of CaTiO 3 -modified [ ( K 0.5 Na 0.5 ) 0.96 Li 0.04 ] ( Nb 0.91 Sb 0.05 Ta 0.04 ) O 3 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics J. Appl. Phys.

Thermal stability, precision, and large output are desired for applications of electromechanical materials. However, this combination has been hardly attained because both the commercially used materials and currently promising candidates are confronted with a critical challenge: the intrinsic incompatibility among the broad temperature window, low hysteresis, and high strain. Here we report a re-entrant relaxor-ferroelectric composite that solves this long-standing challenge: a combination of low hysteresis and large electrostrain over a broad temperature range (i.e., a 168-K temperature window for hysteresis <20% and strain >0.1%) in sufficiently disordered (Ba 0.925 Bi 0.05)(Ti 1−x/100 Sn x/ 100)O 3 ceramics. In situ transmission electron microscopic observations and permittivity measurements reveal the existence of a re-entrant anomaly that guarantees the relaxor-ferroelectric microstructure over a broad temperature range and the resulting combination of exceptional properties. Our finding of a re-entrant relaxor-ferroelectric composite not only solves the incompatibility of the electromechanical properties but may also open a way to develop thermally stable high-performance materials.