Electrostrictive effect in ferroelectrics: An alternative approach to improve piezoelectricity

Abstract

Electrostriction plays an important role in the electromechanical behavior of ferroelectrics and describes a phenomenon in dielectrics where the strain varies proportional to the square of the electric field/ polarization. Perovskite ferroelectrics demonstrating high piezoelectric performance, including BaTiO3, Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3, and relaxor-PbTiO3 materials, have been widely used in various electromechanical devices. To improve the piezoelectric activity of these materials, efforts have been focused on the ferroelectric phase transition regions, including shift the composition to the morphotropic phase boundary or shift polymorphic phase transition to room temperature. However, there is not much room left to further enhance the piezoelectric response in perovskite solid solutions using this approach. With the purpose of exploring alternative approaches, the electrostrictive effect is systematically surveyed in this paper. Initially, the techniques for measuring the electrostrictive effect are given and compared. Second, the origin of electrostriction is discussed. Then, the relationship between the electrostriction and the microstructure and macroscopic properties is surveyed. The electrostrictive properties of ferroelectric materials are investigated with respect to temperature, composition, phase, and orientation. The relationship between electrostriction and piezoelectric activity is discussed in detail for perovskite ferroelectrics to achieve new possibilities for piezoelectric enhancement. Finally, future perspectives for electrostriction studies are proposed. 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Domain size engineering in 0.5%MnO2-(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 lead free piezoelectric crystals

“…It can be seen that the enhancement of piezoelectric coefficient d can be partly attributed to the increase of relative dielectric constant, since the coefficient d of perovskite ferroelectrics is proportional to PQe (P is spontaneous polarization, Q is electrostrictive coefficient). 19 In addition, the orthorhombic to tetragonal phase transition temperature and Curie temperature were found to maintain the same values with decreasing the domain size from 9 to 2 lm, as shown in Table I.…”

Forced electrostriction by constraining polarization switching enhances the electromechanical strain properties of incipient piezoceramics

“…4 With increasing temperature, the electrostrictive coefficient is observed to increase and is then saturated (Supplementary Figure S5), peaking at 0.049 m 4 C − 2 at 140°C. This value is more than two times as large as that of the best-known BNT-based piezoceramics.…”

“…Furthermore, it is highly comparable to that of lead-based single crystals (Figures 1d and e). 4,21,[25][26][27][28][29][30] Figure 2a presents a representative microstructure of an as-sintered RTGG specimen demonstrating a high degree of texture. It is interesting to see that every grain, without exception, shows clear ferroelectric domain contrast.…”

“…15,17 Given that the hysteresis in IPS originates from ferroelastic domain reorientation during an electric-field-induced relaxor-to-ferroelectric transition, one possible solution is the optimal utilization of electrostriction while suppressing the relaxor-to-ferroelectric transition. 4,[18][19][20] It is known that (Bi 1/2 Na 1/2 )TiO 3 -based incipient piezoceramics exhibit a comparatively high electrostrictive coefficient. 18,21 To observe this effect as clearly as possible, we chose the ceramic 0.97Bi 1/2 (Na 0.78 K 0.22 ) 1/2 TiO 3 -0.03BiAlO 3 (BNKT-BA).…”

“…Note that the electrostrictive effect becomes more pronounced when the contribution from domain reorientations vanishes. 4 To provide the largest possible aspect ratio, a reactive templated grain-growth (RTGG) technique was implemented by omitting the topochemical reaction step. The results showed that suppressing the domain reorientation in the presence of electric fields markedly enhances the IPS by reinforcing the electrostrictive contribution to electromechanical strains.…”