Novel ferroelectric single crystals of Bi(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 ternary solid solution

Abstract

Ferroelectric single crystals of a new lead-reduced Bi(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 (BZT-PZ-PT) ternary solid solution system have been grown for the first time by three different methods, namely high temperature solution growth (HTSG, or flux method), top-cooled solution growth (TCSG), and top-seeded solution growth (TSSG). The chemical and thermodynamic parameters, including the flux concentration, the soaking temperature and the cooling rate, have been optimized, leading to the growth of good quality BZT-PZ-PT crystals of pseudo-cubic morphology. A large size crystal of the dimensions of 2 × 2 × 0.5 cm3 has been obtained by the TSSG technique. The crystal structure is analyzed by means of X-ray powder diffraction. The highest ferroelectric Curie temperature TC of the grown crystals is found to be 320 °C by means of dielectric measurements. A remnant polarization of 32 μC/cm2 is displayed with a coercive field of 15.4 kV/cm. The high TC and large coercive field of the BZT-PZ-PT single crystal make this material a promising candidate for applications in high power electromechanical transducers that can operate in a wider temperature range and at high fields.