Temperature dependence of the dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric material constants of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics

Abstract

Resonance methods were used to determine the variation of several piezoelectric, elastic and dielectric constants, as well as the corresponding electromechanical coupling factors of soft and hard doped Pb(Zr_xTi_1-x)O₃ (PZT) ceramics, with compositions near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), as a function of temperature ranging from −165 °C to 195 °C. The material constants were obtained by analyzing the fundamental resonance of the impedance or admittance spectra as a function of frequency for several sample resonance geometries. The piezoelectric constants d₃₃ and −d₃₁, as well as the dielectric constants ε^T₃₃, generally increased with temperature for both soft and hard PZT samples. However, the elastic constants s^E₁₁ and -s^E₁₂ exhibited abnormal variations seen as broad peaks over parts of the tested temperature range. Furthermore, thermal hystereses were observed in all the studied material constants during the heating and cooling cycles. Finally, it was noted that, overall, the material constants of soft PZT varied significantly more than those of hard PZT under changing temperature conditions.