Morphotropic phase boundary tailoring of PZST–PMN system by compositional variation for shape memory effect

Samples with representative formula (1 − y)[Pb(Zr0.7Sn0.3)0.938Ti0.062O3] (PZST)–y(PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3) (PMN), with y = 0.01, 0.02, 0.05 and 0.07, were synthesized using conventional solid state ceramic route. Detailed studies on structural, dielectric, ferroelectric and shape memory related properties of the series are presented. Best results of remnant strain (shape memory) ∼0.2% at 45 °C is observed for y = 0.01 composition. Morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) for the present series, where maximum strain is obtained, is found to shift towards higher temperatures with increasing PMN content; making it possible to design temperature specific devices. Temperature dependent polarization versus electric field (P–E) measurements show that the phase transition in this series follows the thermodynamic model proposed by Yang and Payne. On the basis of these studies, a phase diagram for PZST–PMN system is worked out and reported here.