Nonstoichiometric LiTaO3 ceramics doped with 15 mol % CaTiO3 have been prepared to improve the piezoelectricity of LiTaO3 ceramics and iron doping has been investigated to obtain a high mechanical quality factor, Qm. By increasing the ratio of B sites (Ta and Ti) from 49.5 to 52.0 mol %, crack generation was suppressed and resonance frequency in the radial vibration mode shifted. (Li0.84Ca0.15)(Ta0.86Ti0.15)O3 ceramics whose A and B site ratios were 49.5 and 50.5 mol %, respectively, caused a higher resonance frequency and a high piezoelectric activity than the stoichiometric LiTaO3. The optimum composition for the piezoelectric properties was obtained from the nonstoichiometric LiTaO3 expressed as (Li0.832Ca0.158)(Ta0.856Ti0.15Fe0.004)O3; the phase shift was 73° and the quality factor Qm was 7872 in the radial vibration mode. Although the phase shift is still not sufficiently high, it is expected to approach 90° by fixing it under better poling conditions. One of the possible applications of this material is as an oscillator element for signal processing circuits.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.