Simultaneously achieving giant piezoelectricity and record coercive field enhancement in relaxor-based ferroelectric crystals

Abstract

A large coercive field (EC) and ultrahigh piezoelectricity are essential for ferroelectrics used in high-drive electromechanical applications. The discovery of relaxor-PbTiO3 crystals is a recent breakthrough; they currently afford the highest piezoelectricity, but usually with a low EC. Such performance deterioration occurs because high piezoelectricity is interlinked with an easy polarization rotation, subsequently favoring a dipole switch under small fields. Therefore, the search for ferroelectrics with both a large EC and ultrahigh piezoelectricity has become an imminent challenge. Herein, ternary Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O3–Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 crystals are reported, wherein the dispersed local heterogeneity comprises abundant tetragonal phases, affording a EC of 8.2 kV/cm (greater than that of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 by a factor of three) and ultrahigh piezoelectricity (d33 = 2630 pC/N; d15 = 490 pC/N). The observed EC enhancement is the largest reported for ultrahigh-piezoelectric materials, providing a simple, practical, and universal route for improving functionalities in ferroelectrics with an atomic-level understanding.

Domain Switching in BaTiO3 Films Induced by an Ultralow Mechanical Force

“…Furthermore, the piezoelectric field can be estimated by the following formula: E p i e z o = u 3 d 33 − 1 where the maximum strain u 3 is 1.46%, and the longitudinal inverse piezoelectric coefficient ( d 33 ) of BaTiO 3 is reported to be 95 pm V –1 . This indicates that the electric field of 1.54 MV/cm can be induced by the loading force.…”

Electrical and Heat Distributions and Their Influence on the Mass Transfer during the Flash Spark Plasma Sintering of a Cu/Cr Nanocomposite: Experiments and Numerical Simulation

“…Therefore, larger Cu-rich areas in FSPS_2, compared with FSPS_1, resulted in lower electrical resistance and higher thermal diffusivity, and vice versa. Moreover, a sample that retains its nanostructure during the sintering process will have a higher hardness [ 49 , 50 , 51 ]. As shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 , FSPS_1 had a homogeneous nanostructure at its center and edges, while the grain size in the center of FSPS_2 was in the micron and sub-micron range; therefore, the hardness of FSPS_2 was lower than that of FSPS_1.…”

High piezoelectricity and low strain hysteresis in PMN–PT-based piezoelectric ceramics

“…Piezoelectric ceramics have historically played important roles in medical ultrasonic probes, high density capacitors, underwater acoustic imaging systems and micro electro mechanical systems due to their superior dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties [1][2][3][4][5][6]. High performance coupled with high reliability of piezoelectric ceramics result in high demand for their use in a host of high-tech industrial applications.…”