Improvement on Qm in high-power piezoelectric ceramics through [111]c texture engineering

Improving mechanical quality factor Q m is of great significance for high-power applications. Here, a new strategy of the [111] c texture engineering was proposed to enhance the performances of high-power piezoelectric ceramics. The 5 vol% BaTiO 3 (BT) templates with the [111] c preferred orientation were introduced into matrix powders of 0.03 Pb(Mn 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –0.33Pb(Ni 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –0.28 PbZrO 3 –0.36PbTiO 3 (28PZ(R)) to form the [111] c textured ceramics (28PZ(T)), possessing a texture degree of 74 %. The multiple of uniform density in EBSD increased from 0.63 in randomly oriented 28 PZ(R) to 6.63 in 28PZ(T). The good lattice matching between BT templates and textured grains was observed using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, confirming the microscopic origin of the [111] c texture. The maximum phase angle θ max of 88.2° was quite near 90° in 28PZ(T), ensuring the optimal Q m value of 1275 and the great figure of merit of 255,000 pC/N. The increased Q m in [111] c texture ceramics was confirmed due to the reduced intrinsic polarization directions rather than the pinning effect of the internal bias field. Larger grain sizes with larger domains restrained the movement of domain walls in 28 PZ(T), which was also favorable to higher Q m . This work may provide a new promising route for further high-power applications.