Growth and enhanced electrical properties of PIN-PMN-PT piezoelectric single crystal grown by the solid-state crystal growth method

0.32Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-0.335Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.345PbTiO3 single crystals were successfully grown by a solid-state crystal growth (SSCG) method through precise control of the key growth parameters. The effects of the sintering temperature and the soaking time on the growth of the PIN-PMN-PT single crystals were investigated. The growth distance is up to 1069 µm for [110]-oriented PIN-PMN-PT single crystal grown at 1150 °C for 50 h. The microstructure, crystal structure and dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties were systematically investigated for the SSCG-grown [110]-oriented PIN-PMN-PT single crystals. The [110]-oriented PIN-PMN-PT single crystals exhibit high piezoelectric properties (d33 ∼ 1041pC/N, d33 * ∼ 1024 pm/V), Curie temperature (TC ∼ 250 °C) and ferroelectric properties (EC ∼ 8.4 kV/cm and Pr ∼33 μC/cm2). Further, the [001]-oriented single crystals also possess outstanding piezoelectric properties (d33 ∼ 1004pC/N, d33 * ∼ 1203 pm/V), Curie temperature (TC ∼ 266 °C) and ferroelectric properties (EC ∼ 9.7 kV/cm and Pr ∼36 μC/cm2), which are much superior to those of counterpart ceramics.This work opens the door of growth of PIN-PMN-PT single crystals by SSCG method and the SSCG-grown PIN-PMN-PT single crystals are very promising candidates for high performance electromechanical devices with wide temperature and electric field application.