Preferred grain orientation relationships in sintered perovskite ceramics

Sintered BaTiO3, SrTiO3, and Pb(ZrTi1-x)O-3 ceramics were examined using or ientation imaging microscopy (OIM (TM)), which is a system for the automate d measurement of grain orientations by evaluating electron backscatter diff raction patterns in scanning electron microscopy. As expected for sintered materials, none of the three materials exhibited a pronounced texture. Howe ver, analysis of the orientation relationships (ORs) between adjacent grain s revealed a statistically significant preference of Sigma = 3 ORs. Accordi ngly, the boundaries between grains with a Sigma = 3 OR were particularly i mportant for the macroscopic properties of the materials in question.