Enhancing Electromechanical Properties of PZT-Based Piezoelectric Ceramics by High-Temperature Poling for High-Power Applications

Defect engineering is a proven method to tune the properties of perovskite oxides. In demanding high-power piezoelectric ceramic applications, acceptor doping is the most effective method to harden ceramics, but it inevitably degrades the ceramics’ electromechanical properties. Herein, a poling method based on acceptor doping, namely, high-temperature poling, is implemented by applying an electric field above the Curie temperature for poling to achieve a balance of the properties of piezoelectric coefficient d 33 and mechanical quality factor Q m . After high-temperature poling, the piezoelectric property of 0.6 mol % Mn-doped Pb 0.92 Sr 0.08 (Zr 0.533 Ti 0.443 Nb 0.024 )O 3 is d 33 = 483 pC/N and Q m = 448. Compared with the traditional poling, the piezoelectric coefficient d 33 of the high-temperature poling ceramics increased by approximately 40%, and Q m also increased by nearly 18%. Therefore, high d 33 and Q m were exhibited by our PZT piezoelectric ceramics. Rayleigh’s law analysis, XRD, and transmission electron microscopy analysis show that, after high-temperature poling, the considerably increased d 33 is related to the large increase in the reversible domain wall motion in the intrinsic effect, while the slightly increased Q m is related to the inhibited irreversible domain wall motion in the extrinsic effect. This study reports a method for high-temperature poling and provides insights into the design of high-power piezoelectric ceramics with high d 33 and Q m .