Relaxor-PbTiO³ single crystals for various applications

Piezoelectric materials lie at the heart of electromechanical devices. Applications include actuators, ultrasonic imaging, high intensity focused ultrasound, underwater ultrasound, nondestructive evaluation transducer, pressure sensors, and accelerometers, to name a few. In this work, the advantages and disadvantages of relaxor-PbTiO3-based single crystals are discussed, based on the requirements (figure of merit) of various applications, with emphasis on recent developments of the shear properties of single crystals as a function of temperature and applied fields.