Synergetic enhancement in the piezoelectric coefficient and electromechanical factor in PYN-PMN-PT ceramics via texture engineering

[001] textured Mn-doped Pb(Yn_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃-Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ (PYN-PMN-PT) ceramics were fabricated via the template grain growth (TGG) method using 3 vol% BaTiO₃ (BT) plate-like templates. Benefit to the [001] grain orientation and “4R” domain configuration, Mn-doped PYN-PMN-PT textured ceramics exhibited significantly enhanced piezoelectric and electromechanical properties. In comparison to randomly oriented ceramics, the textured sample exhibited a nearly doubled piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ of 607 pC/N (compared to 306 pC/N) and an increased electromechanical coupling factor k_p from 0.50 to 0.65. The origin of the improved piezoelectric and electromechanical properties was analyzed based on measurements of hysteresis loops under different frequencies and temperatures. The smaller internal bias field and near-zero values as temperature over T_R-T in [001] textured ceramics indicated facilitated polarization rotation and smoothed pinning effect induced by Mn doping. As a consequence, by forming oriented polarization configuration, [001]-textured ceramics become softer, leading to high piezoelectric properties.