The
electrostrictive effect, which induces strain in ferroelectric
ceramics, offers distinct advantages over its piezoelectric counterpart
for high-precision actuator applications, including anhysteretic behavior
even at high frequencies, rapid reaction times, and no requirement
for poling. Historically, commercially available electrostrictive
materials have been lead oxide-based. However, global restrictions
on the use of lead in electronic components necessitate the exploration
of lead-free electrostrictive ceramics with a high strain performance.
Although various engineering strategies for producing materials with
high strain have been proposed, they typically come at the expense
of increased strain hysteresis. Here, we describe the extraordinary
electrostrictive response of (Ba0.95Ca0.05)(Ti0.88Sn0.12)O3 (BCTS) ceramics with ultrahigh
electrostrictive strain and negligible hysteresis achieved through
texture engineering leveraging the anisotropic intrinsic lattice contribution.
The BCTS ceramics exhibit a high unipolar strain of 0.175%, a substantial
electrostrictive coefficient Q
33 of 0.0715
m4 C–2, and an ultralow hysteresis of
less than 0.8%. Notably, the Q
33 value
is three times greater than that of high-performance lead-based Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 electrostrictive ceramics.
Multiscale structural analyses demonstrate that the electrostrictive
effect dominates the BCTS strain response. This research introduces
a novel approach to texture engineering to enhance the electrostrictive
effect, offering a promising paradigm for future advancements in this
field.