Determining the effects of BaTiO3 template alignment on template grain growth of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 –PbTiO3 and effects on piezoelectric properties

Crystallographic texturing of ferroelectric ceramics is an established method of inducing single crystal-like properties in a ceramic material via epitaxial grain growth according to the template used, otherwise known as Templated Grain Growth (TGG). The piezoelectric enhancement is dependent on the degree of TGG throughout the ceramic, which is closely linked to the tape casting parameters and sintering conditions. Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) perovskite ferroelectrics with morphotropic phase boundary compositions using 3 vol% BaTiO3 templates were used for analysis. The blade gap and template size have the greatest impact on the overall grain alignment. The varying degrees of template alignment is related to the different enhancements of TGG and the correlating piezoelectric d33 and d*33. The highest piezoelectric property was demonstrated in PMN-31PT with Lotgering factor of 93% where d33 = 1020 pC/N and d*33 = 1420 pm/V were achieved