We have investigated the electromechanical response of piezoelectric ceramics as a function of the amplitude and frequency of large electric fields and studied the effects of dc bias fields. In order to characterize the materials under these conditions, a ZMI 2000 laser interferometer system from Zygo Corp. has been installed and modified to directly measure the strains of ferroelectric ceramics. This system uses a heterodyne detection technique and has the advantages of phase detection, wide bandwidth, high stability, and easy optical alignment. Our experiment has been used to determine the strain of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics as a function of electric fields and as a function of frequency in the low frequency range. From these measurements the piezoelectric coefficients d33, d31, and d15 have been determined as a function of applied field and frequency. In addition the dependence of the piezoelectric coefficients under an applied dc bias field has been studied under quasistatic and under resonance conditions. Some of our measurements have provided evidence of the time dependence of the piezoelectric response. Results on a range of soft and hard PZT ceramics manufactured by EDO Corp. are presented. These results are discussed within the context of extrinsic contributions to the piezoelectric response.

No abstract

Laser Doppler interferometry has been used to determine the strain and piezoelectric response of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) electrostrictive ceramics as a function of electric fields up to 4 MV m-1, frequencies between 0.1 Hz and 2.5 kHz and DC bias fields up to 3 MV m-1. The strain and polarization of PMN-15 with a composition of 0.9PMN-0.1PT and PMN-38 with a composition of 0.85PMN-0.15PT both produced by TRS ceramics, have been measured at room temperature. The strain and polarization responses of PMN-15 ceramics under an electric field up to 4 MV m-1 have been fitted to a polynomial model. The results suggest that a quadratic dependence of strain on polarization is not valid for large electric fields and that higher-order terms must be included. Our measurements showed that the effective piezoelectric coefficient, d33, of PMN-15 ceramics had a maximum value of 800 pm V-1 at a bias field of 0.67 MV m-1 and had little frequency dependence in the frequency range from 1 Hz up to 2.5 kHz. PMN-38 ceramic showed a maximum d33 of 1200 pm V-1 at a bias field of 0.43 MV m-1 and the d33 of this material showed a clear frequency dependence from 1 Hz up to 2.5 kHz.

Sensors and actuators based on piezoelectric ceramics are finding an increasingly large variety of applications under a very wide range of environmental conditions and applied signals. Some actuator applications require the piezoelectric materials to support large mechanical loads and produce high strain output. In order to accomplish this requirement of higher strains, large electric fields must be applied. This results in a significant non-linear behaviour and hence affects the performance of the material. It is therefore important to understand the behaviour and properties of these materials over a large range of temperature, frequency and applied electric fields and mechanical stresses. We have measured some of the dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric constants of soft (EC-65, EC-76) and hard (EC-64, EC-69) lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric ceramics, manufactured by EDO Ceramics, as a function of temperature, frequency, applied field and applied stress. We have also determined the dependence of the piezoelectric constants on an applied DC bias voltage or stress. The time dependence of the piezoelectric response in the piezoelectric ceramics has also been studied. A summary of the results will be presented. Most of these results can be understood on the basis of the extrinsic contributions to the piezoelectric response that arises from the existence of domains in the material.

No abstract