Sound velocity variation as function of polarization state in Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) Ceramics

Abstract

There are several ultrasonic techniques to measure the sound velocity, for example, the pulse-echo method. In such method, the size of transducer used to measure the sound velocity must be in the same order of the sample size. If not, the incompatibility of sizes becomes an error source of the sound velocity measurement. In this work, the Laser Induced Pressure Pulse (LIPP) method is used as ultrasonic method. This method has been very useful for studying the spatial distribution of charges and polarization in dielectrics. We take advantage of the fact that the method allows the sound velocity measurement, to study its variation as function of polarization state in (PZT) ceramics. In a sample with a known thickness e, the sound velocity ν is deduced from the measurement of the transit time T.The sound velocity depends on the elastic constants which in turn they depend on poling conditions. Thus, the variation of the sound velocity is related to the direction and the amplitude of the polarization.