Synergistic enhancement of piezoelectric performance and strain temperature stability in Ce-doped PMN-PT relaxor ferroelectrics

To address the demand for high-precision piezoelectric devices featuring high piezoelectric performance and excellent temperature stability, x Ce-PMN-35PT piezoelectric ceramics were synthesized via cerium doping. Ce ions preferentially occupy the A-site substituting for Pb 2 + , as evidenced by XRD peak shifts and Raman spectral evolution. Combined lattice variation and ionic radius data suggest a valence evolution from Ce 4+ towards Ce 3+ with increasing doping content. The results show that the ceramic with 2 mol% Ce doping exhibits superior comprehensive performance: the piezoelectric coefficient d 33 reaches 780 pC/N, the large-signal piezoelectric coefficient d 33 * is 1101 pm/V, and the unipolar electrostrain only degrades by 6.4% across the broad temperature range from 25 to 125 ℃. Through in situ XRD and Rietveld refinement, this study further elucidated the intrinsic correlation among phase structure, domain switching dynamics, and piezoelectric properties, thereby revealing the underlying mechanism by which cerium doping optimizes material performance. This work not only offers a promising material system for medium-temperature high-precision piezoelectric actuators but also presents an effective strategy for tailoring the properties of PMN-PT-based ceramics.