Piezoelectric properties of < 001 > textured Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-PbTiO3 ceramics

The piezoelectric properties of (1-x) Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-xPbTiO(3) (x=0.3-0. 35), ceramics with a high degree of < 001 > fiber texture were investigated for possible actuator applications. Piezoelectric coefficients (d(33)) in excess of 1200 pC/N associated with strain levels up to >0.3% were observed in samples prepared by a reactive templated grain growth process. No exces s PbO was used in the starting composition. A high degree of fiber texture was achieved using < 001 > oriented BaTiO3 template particles in a fine-gra ined precursor for the PMN-32PT matrix. High densities together with textur e resulted in a significant increase in strain levels and d(33) values comp ared to their polycrystalline counterparts. Peak dielectric constants on th e order of 22 000 with losses of similar to2% and well-saturated hysteresis loops with a P(r)similar to 27 muC/cm(2) were recorded on the textured sam ples. These domain engineered, textured ceramics have tremendous potential for high-performance actuators. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.