Structural and piezoelectric properties of <001> textured PZT ‐ PZNN piezoelectric ceramics

Abstract Rhombohedral 0.69Pb(Zr 0.47 Ti 0.53 )‐0.31Pb(Zn 0.6 Ni 0.4 )NbO 3 ( PZT ‐ PZNN ) ceramics were textured using 10.0 vol. % BaTiO 3 ( BT ) platelets along the <001> direction at 950°C with a high Lotgering factor of 95.3%. BT platelets did not react with the PZT ‐ PZNN ceramics, and the textured PZT ‐ PZNN ceramic had a tetragonal structure. The PZT ‐ PZNN ceramics exhibited a strain of 0.174% with a piezoelectric strain constant ( d * 33 ) of 580 pC /N at 3.0 kV/mm. The textured PZT ‐ PZNN ceramic showed an increased strain of 0.276% and d * 33 of 920 pC/N at 3.0 kV/mm, which can be explained by the domain rotation. However, the d 33 values of the textured specimens are smaller than those of the untextured specimens because of the small remanent polarization and relative dielectric constant of BT platelets. The textured PZT ‐ PZNN ceramic synthesized in this work can be used for piezoelectric multilayer actuators because of its large strain and low sintering temperature.