<title>Frequency dependence of PMN-PT ceramics under electrical bias</title>

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that electrostrictive materials, such as lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) ceramics, exhibit significant frequency dispersion in their small signal dielectric constant below their dielectric maximum temperature Tm. The frequency dispersion in several PMN-PT compositions will be examined in this study using two independent measurement methods: dc biased resonance and large signal quasistatic measurements conducted on NUWC Division Newport's SDECS. From these measurements, the coupling factor, piezoelectric constant and Young's modulus are compared as a function of the applied bias and frequency. Both the DC biased and SDECS measurements were performed on the same 3:1 aspect ratio samples. Finite element calculations will show that the error in determining the Young's modulus and piezoelectric constant from resonance using these samples is less than 5 percent. It will be shown that when frequency dispersion exists it remains even with the application of dc bias, and that the degree of deviation between these quantities increases the further below Tm the temperature drops. It will also be shown that, like the dielectric constant, the coupling factor, piezoelectric constant and Young's modulus in PMN-PT ceramics above Tm are non-dispersive.