High thermal stability of piezoelectric properties in tetragonal Pb(In1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 single crystal

Abstract

The representatives of relaxor ferroelectric (1-x)Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-xPbTiO3 (PZNT) and (1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-xPbTiO3 (PMNT) have been extensively studied due to their excellent dielectric and piezoelectric properties near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). However, low rhombohedral to tetragonal phase transition temperature and Curie temperature directly affect the performance and stability of devices, particularly for high-power ultrasonic transducers. In this paper, the large size tetragonal 0.62Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-0.38PbTiO3 (PINT) crystal was grown by the modified Bridgman technique. The crystals were oriented along the ⟨100⟩ direction to make bars with electrodes on (001) faces. The variation of the dielectric constant with temperature showed that the Curie temperature of PINT was 250 °C, and the maximum dielectric constant was 7.29 × 104 ɛ0. Fitting with Curie-Weiss’s law, we obtained that the relaxation degree was 1.44, which could mean that the dielectric properties of PINT are between relaxor ferroelectric and ordinary ferroelectric. At room temperature, electromechanical coupling coefficient k31 and piezoelectric strain constant d31 were 0.56 and 551 pC/N, respectively. Piezoelectric properties were relatively stable between room temperature and 175 °C. The material has good temperature stability in terms of piezoelectricity and dielectric properties. These results proved that the working temperature of the PINT crystal could reach about 175 °C, much higher than PZNT and PMNT single crystal, indicating their application in ultrasonic transducers at high temperatures.