High piezoelectric response in [001] textured Sm³⁺ doped Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ ceramics

In this work, [001] textured Sm_0.025Pb_0.9625(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.74Ti_0.26O₃ (Sm-PMN-26PT) ceramics were synthesized by the templated grain growth method. The dielectric, piezoelectric, and electromechanical properties of untextured and textured ceramics are systematically studied. A high texture degree of 99% was obtained using 1% volume fraction of the BaTiO₃ (BT) template. The textured ceramics exhibit an excellent piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ of 1882 pC/N at room temperature, and an extremely high d₃₃* of 2510 pm/V is obtained. The dielectric, ferroelectric, and strain characteristics reveal that the improvement of piezoelectric properties of textured ceramics comes from the increase of dielectric constant ϵ₃₃ and electrostriction coefficient Q₃₃. Both the intrinsic response of the domain and the external contribution of the domain wall are enhanced in [001] textured ceramics, which may be the microscopic mechanism of increased piezoelectric activity. The Sm-PMN-26PT textured ceramics exhibit excellent piezoelectric properties, which are very promising for using at room temperature.