Ternary Pb(Yb1/2Nb1/2)O3–PbZrO3–PbTiO3 system as high-TC/high-piezoelectric materials

In order to search for high-TC materials with excellent piezoelectric properties, we have investigated the ternary system of (1−x−y)Pb(Yb1/2Nb1/2)O3−xPbZrO3–yPbTiO3 (PYN–PZ–PT). The phase diagram around the ternary morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) has been determined. For the ceramic of composition near the MPB, 0.33Pb(Yb1/2Nb1/2)O3−0.23PbZrO3–0.44PbTiO3, a high ferroelectric Curie temperature of TC=370 °C, a very large bipolar strain of 0.4% (peak to peak) at E = ±20 kV/cm, a high d33 value of 1247 pC/N (E≤20 kV/cm) measured from the unipolar dependence of strain, and a remnant polarization (Pr) of 25 μC/cm3 are obtained. This performance indicates that this ternary system form promising materials for high-temperature electromechanical transducer applications.