Low-cost (0.1BiYbO3-0.9PbTiO3)-PbZrO3-xMn high Curie temperature piezoelectric ceramics with improved high-temperature performance

Abstract

Here, we report the structure and performance of a low-cost high Curie temperature (TC) Mn-doped ternary BiYbO3-Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (BY-PZT-xMn) perovskite piezoelectric ceramic system. The partial substitution of Mn for the A-site Pb, B-site Ti and Zr of the ternary system enhanced both the piezoelectric coefficient and the mechanical quality factor, indicating that the variable valence element induced combinatory soft and hard doped characteristics. The improved electrical performance was found to be related to the improved density and homogeneity, and a correlation between the piezoelectricity and the grain size was also observed. More importantly, a Mn doping level of less than 0.8 mol. % also obviously enhanced the thermal stability of the samples, as reflected by the higher TC and depolarization temperature (Td) measured via both in situ Berlincourt method and annealing experiments, and a correlation between TC and tetragonality of BY-PZT-xMn system was observed. The sample with 0.8 mol. % Mn showed a remarkable overall performance with a d33 of 246 pC/N and a TC around 400 °C, which is expected to be promising for high temperature piezoelectric device applications.