Effects of sintering aid and atmosphere powder on the growth of (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 single crystals fabricated by solid-state crystal growth method

Abstract

(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 (KNN) + x (= 1, 0.5, 0.05, and 0) wt%Co3O4 single crystals were fabricated by a solid-state crystal growth method with a KTaO3 seed crystal and a KNN atmosphere powder, and the effects of the sintering aid content x and the addition of Co3O4 to the atmosphere powder on the growth of the single crystals were investigated. The formation of pores in the single crystals was suppressed by a decrease of x, which, however, decreased the crystal growth length. On the other hand, dense and large KNN single crystals could be fabricated by sintering with a KNN + 5 wt%Co3O4 atmosphere at x = 0. The dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of the KNN single crystals were comparable to those of reported (K,Na)NbO3 single crystals. These results would be useful for fabricating dense and large single crystals by the solid-state crystal growth method.