Fatigue-free unipolar strain behavior in CaZrO3 and MnO2 co-modified (K,Na)NbO3-based lead-free piezoceramics

The unipolar fatigue behavior of CaZrO3 and MnO2 co-modified (K,Na,Li)(Nb,Ta)O3 lead-free piezoceramics was investigated systematically. The well-known charge agglomeration model is shown to explain the overall changes observed during unipolar fatigue, such as the development of bias field as well as the anisotropy in bipolar strain hysteresis and field-dependent dielectric permittivity. In addition, it is found that the unipolar strain exhibits only small degradation within 3% at the field amplitude of 2 kV/mm up to 107 cycles. This exceptionally good fatigue resistance is identified due to the presence of additional process, assigned as a “softening” effect that competes against the usual fatigue effect.