PIN-PMN-PT single-crystal-based 1-3 piezoelectric composites for ultrasonic transducer applications

In this work, Pb(In_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃-Pb(Mg _1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ (PIN-PMN-PT) single crystal/epoxy 1-3 composites with different thicknesses (400 μm to 825 μm) were fabricated using the conventional dice-and-fill method. Their properties were compared with the corresponding lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic 1-3 composites. Excellent properties for ultrasonic transducer applications have been achieved, such as high electromechanical coupling coefficient (k _t ≈ 78% to 83%), high piezoelectric strain coefficient (d ₃₃ ≈ 1000 pm/V), and lower acoustic impedance (Z ≈ 20 Mrayl). The strain levels of PIN-PMN-PT composites were almost constant (1000 pm/V) with decreasing thickness, being much higher than those of PZT composites (650 pm/V). However, an increase in strain hysteresis was observed with decreasing thickness, reaching 25.3% for the 400-μm single-crystal 1-3 composite, which is lower than the corresponding PZT composites (44.1% for 350-μm PZT ceramic 1-3 composite). These results show that PIN-PMN-PT single-crystal 1-3 composites have great potential for use in advanced ultrasound transducer applications.