J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2025, Vol. 224: 10-18.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2024.10.043

• Research Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Electric field control of piezoelectricity in textured PMN-PZT ceramics

Mingyang Tanga, Xin Liua, Shuguang Zhenga,b, Yike Wanga, Jingheng Chaic, Xiaodan Rena, Yunjie Zhaoc, Zheng Yangd, Zhuo Xua,*, Liwei D. Gengc,*, Yongke Yana,*   

  1. aElectronic Materials Research Laboratory, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education and International Center for Dielectric Research, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China;
    bSuzhou Sicui Electronic Functional Material Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., Suzhou 215100, China;
    cCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China;
    dDepartment of General Science, Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
  • Received:2024-09-06 Revised:2024-10-24 Accepted:2024-10-24 Published:2025-07-20 Online:2024-11-30
  • Contact: *E-mail addresses: xuzhuo@xjtu.edu.cn (Z. Xu), liwei.geng@scupi.cn (L.D. Geng), yanyongke@xjtu.edu.cn (Y. Yan)

Abstract: Ferroelectric ceramics generally develop macroscopic piezoelectric effects only after undergoing suitable electric field treatment, referred to as poling. In this study, we examine the influence of various poling conditions, including both direct current (DC) and alternative current (AC) electric fields, as well as temperature, on the piezoelectric properties of [001]-textured PMN-PZT ceramics. The results show that the piezoelectric properties under alternative current poling (ACP) condition include d33 = 1330 pC/N, ɛr = 3280, and k31 = 0.646. ACP shows a 9 % increase in d33 compared to direct current poling (DCP). Increasing the temperature during DCP can raise d33 to 1350 pC/N and k31 to 0.66, with a high TR-T of 121 °C. Due to the influence of grain boundaries, there is a significant difference between [001] textured ceramics and single crystals, as the domain structure switching and growth are constrained by orientation differences between grains. Phase-field simulations further reveal that the growth of domains is impeded by grain boundaries in polycrystals, which hinders the formation of larger-size domains. The results suggest that ACP may be more effective in larger grains in textured ceramics.

Key words: Textured ceramics, Piezoelectric properties, AC poling, Grain boundaries