Synergistic pinning effect of oxygen vacancies and precipitates on domains in high-power Mn-doped PZT ceramics

Highly effective piezoelectric hardening is crucial for high-power device applications. In this work, we introduce a novel piezoelectric hardening approach that synergistically combines oxygen vacancies with precipitates for achieving strong pinning of ferroelectric domain walls. In Mn-doped 0.2Pb(Zn 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -0.8Pb(Zr 0.5 Ti 0.5 )O 3 (Mn-doped PZN–PZT) ceramic, the substitution of Mn 3 + for Ti 4+ or Zr 4+ results in an acceptor doping hardening, whereas the substitution of Mn 2+ for Zn 2+ leads to the formation of ZnO precipitates, leading to a precipitation hardening. Highly effective piezoelectric hardening via oxygen vacancies and ZnO precipitates in 0.9 wt% MnCO 3 -doped PZN–PZT sample is realized, where the mechanical quality factor ( Q m ) and maximum vibration velocity ( v max ) represent 10 times and 1.2 times increase, compared to the undoped samples. Moreover, the synergistic strategy of integrating oxygen vacancies with ZnO precipitates can significantly enhance the stability of Q m , offering substantial potential for the design of high-power piezoelectric ceramics.