Pressure stabilization and piezoelectric properties of polycrystalline perovskite PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3–PbTiO3

Abstract

By using high-pressure heat treatment, we synthesized the single perovskite phase of polycrystalline $\text{(1−x)}{\mathrm{PbZn}}_{\mathrm{1/3}}{\mathrm{Nb}}_{\mathrm{2/3}}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}}\mathrm{–x}{\mathrm{PbTiO}}_{\mathrm{3}}$ which was reported to show giant piezoelectricity in crystal forms. Piezoelectric constant of the polycrystalline materials at room temperature was found to become maximum at the rhombohedral side $\text{(x=8\%)}$ of morphotropic phase boundary. Microscopic strain under the electric field (E) along different crystallographic directions was identified by observing the x-ray Bragg peak shift of polycrystalline samples with E.