Origin of the Giant Piezoelectric Properties in the [001] Domain Engineered Relaxor Single Crystals

Abstract

Relaxor single crystals PZN-9%PT have been cut and poled along [ 1 101] direction for which the spontaneous polarization P s is approximately parallel to the poling field E p . The piezoelectric matrix of the monoclinic single-domain (1M state) has been determined, in the approximation of an orthorhombic symmetry. The shear mode (15) along [101], gives the highest electromechanical coupling factor k 15 (>80%) and the largest piezoelectric coefficient d 15 ($3200 pC/N). The properties of the disoriented 1M state have been calculated from a change of axes. The maximum of d ' 33 is obtained along a direction close to [001]. This is due to the very large value of d 15 compared to d 33 in the basic 1M state. On the other hand the transverse piezoelectric coefficient along [uv0] for the [001] disoriented P s single domain presents a strong anisotropy. Finally, in the [001] domain engineered configuration, an important extrinsic contribution of the domain coexistence is evidenced by comparing calculated and measured coefficients.

Relaxor-PT Single Crystal Piezoelectric Sensors

“…The final PUMA prototype made of PZN-PT showed a charge sensitivity of 75 pC/g and a resonance frequency of 19.4 kHz [65]. This work demonstrated that the first generation relaxor-PT crystals can be integrated into the novel accelerometer design for significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio (greater than 15 dB) by taking advantages of their high d 33 and d 31 [64].…”

“…Over the last two decades, relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystals such as Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 (PMN-PT) and Pb(Zn 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 (PZN-PT) have been spotlighted due to their ultrahigh piezoelectric properties [22,23]. For example, the ultra-high longitudinal piezoelectric strain coefficient d 33 (>2000 pC/N) and electromechanical coupling factor k 33 (>0.9) of the relaxor-PT single crystals far outweigh the mostly used polycrystalline ceramics Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 (PZT), and these merits are promising for a broad range of electromechanical applications [24,25].…”

“…A strong crystal anisotropy in these single crystals were considered as the key factor of their high piezoelectric properties [26,27]. As an example, piezoelectric properties of relaxor-PT single crystals poled along different crystallographic directions can be significantly different, and many of these crystal cut and poling configurations can be unique in many applications [25,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. In the matter of crystal growth methods, various growth techniques including high temperature solution, Bridgman, and solid state conversion methods have been developed and reported [37][38][39][40].…”

Temperature dependence of the direct piezoelectric effect in relaxor-ferroelectric single crystals: Intrinsic and extrinsic contributions

“…32,33 Similar calculations have shown that intrinsic piezoelectric anisotropy accounts for at least 50% of the piezoelectric response of ͓001͔ C -poled, domain-engineered PZN-9PT. 34 Thus, a majority intrinsic contribution to the direct piezoelectric response of ͓001͔ C -poled PZN-4.5PT and PZN-8PT might be expected. Moreover, the intrinsic contribution, as measured along the non polar ͓001͔ C poling direction of each domain-engineered crystal, is also expected to increase as the first order ferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition is approached.…”

Domain engineering of the transverse piezoelectric coefficient in perovskite ferroelectrics

“…Following the rediscovery of their very high piezoelectric coefficients for rhombohedral or orthorhombic compositions oriented along the nonpolar ͓001͔ C ͑C: pseudocubic͒ direction, 1 much work has concentrated on the concept of domain engineering 2 not only in these materials [3][4][5][6][7] but in simpler perovskite crystals as well. [8][9][10] A good definition of "domain engineering" is that given by Bell: 2 A domain-engineered crystal is one which has been poled by the application of a sufficiently high field along one of the possible polar axes of the crystal other than the zerofield polar axis, creating a set of domains in which the polarizations are oriented such that their angles to the poling direction are minimized.…”