PIN–PMN–PT piezoelectric crystals with increased rhombohedral-to-tetragonal phase transition temperature

• Main Authors: Jun Luo, Shujun Zhang, Wesley Hackenberger, Thomas R. Shrout
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: World Scientific Publishing 2014-01-01
• Series: Journal of Advanced Dielectrics
• Subjects: PIN–PMN–PT; crystal growth; the Bridgman method; piezoelectric property; dielectric property
• Online Access: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/S2010135X14500015

In this work, crystal growth and characterization of PIN–PMN–PT (29–59% PIN and 28–35% PT) were conducted to understand how PIN ratio in the PIN–PMN–PT system impacts its phase stability during crystallization. High-quality PIN–PMN–PT crystals with 36% PIN were obtained using the self-seeded Bridgman process, even though the cubic phase In2O3 formed at the very beginning of solidification. The melt became more unstable when the PIN ratio in the PIN–PMN–PT system increased to 49% and above, which affected the composition and quality of the as-grown crystals significantly. By increasing the PIN to 36% in PIN–PMN–PT crystal, the rhombohedral-to-tetragonal phase transition temperatures and the coercive field reached 115–135°C and 4.5~5.6 kV/cm, respectively, that greatly expanded the operation domains compared to PMN–PT crystals.