Improved piezoelectric properties of Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ textured ferroelectric ceramics via Sm-doping method

Sm-doped Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ (Sm: PMN-PT) textured ceramics were fabricated by Template Grain Growth (TGG) using plate-like<001>oriented BaTiO₃ (BT) as templates. The effects of PT and Sm contents on the crystal structure, microstructure, and piezoelectric, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of Sm: PMN-PT textured ceramics were investigated in details. Sm-doping was found to effectively improve the piezoelectric and dielectric properties of PMN-PT textured ceramics. For 1.9 mol% Sm: PMN-29PT textured ceramics with the Lotgering factor of 0.90, the piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ can reach up to 1040 pC/N. The relaxation behavior for Sm: PMN-29PT textured ceramics progressively increase with increasing Sm content. The room temperature dielectric constants of Sm: PMN-29PT textured ceramics continuously increase with increasing Sm contents and are not sensitive to increasing PT contents, while the temperature of the maximum dielectric constant continuously decreases with increasing Sm contents and increases with increasing PT contents. The saturation polarization and remnant polarization of Sm: PMN-29PT textured ceramics gradually decrease with increasing Sm content while the coercive field is not enlarged. This novel Sm: PMN-PT textured ceramics will further provide a new promising application prospect for ultrasonics, actuators, and transducers.