High-Performance Piezoelectric Characteristics of Sm Substituted Pb(Ni,Nb)O3-Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-Pb(Mg,W)O3 System Ceramics for Ultrasonic Transducer Application

In this paper, in order to develop composition ceramics for an acoustic emission sensor application for nondestructive testing, Pb(Ni,Nb2/3)O3-Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-Pb(Mg,W)O3 [PNN-PZT-PMW] system ceramics were manufactured by conventional mixed oxide method using Li2CO3 and CaCO3 as sintering aids. Their microstructural, dielectric and piezoelectric properties were also investigated. At x = 0.0075 Sm, the substituted specimen sintered at 980 (°C), and high values of piezoelectric properties appeared: the dielectric constant (εr) of 2824, piezoelectric coefficient d33 of 630 [pC/N], planar electromechanical coupling factor kp of 0.665, piezoelectric voltage constant g33 of 25.2 [mV.m/N], and high Curie temperature (Tc) = 270 (°C), respectively. These values were applicable for devices such as acoustic emission sensor and ultrasonic transducer.