Ultra‐high‐temperature piezoelectric responses and ultra‐high thermal stability of piezoelectricity in ceramic PbZr 0.54 Ti 0.46 O 3

Abstract To date, most piezoceramics with a high piezoelectric coefficient ( d 33 > 500 pC/N) and a high Curie temperature ( T C around 400°C) are BiScO 3 ‐PbTiO 3 ‐based (BS‐PT‐based) systems, containing the rare‐earth element Sc, whose high cost hinders mass production. We investigated the effect of Nd‐doping on the morphotropic phase boundary and synthesized low‐cost Nd‐doped PbZr 0.54 Ti 0.46 O 3 (PZT) piezoceramics, achieving high piezoelectric performance. At room temperature, the piezoelectric coefficient d 33 reached 550 pC/N with a T C = 375°C and this changed by only 3.6% over a broad temperature range (30–260°C). The d 33 value reached an ultra‐high value of 941 pC/N at 345°C, which is higher than that of a BS‐PT‐based ceramic (810 pC/N at 350°C). The developed PZT ceramic material has a superior electrostrictive strain of 0.45% at 40 kV/cm, and a room temperature piezoelectric coefficient d 33 * of 1312 pm/V at 20 kV/cm. Our research provides a new paradigm for designing piezoceramics that can be used over a wide temperature range.