Continuous feed growth and characterization of PMN-PT single crystals

(1-x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-xPbTiO₃ (PMN-PT) single crystals were successfully grown by continuous feed growth (hereafter abbreviated to CFG) which is a promising technique to eliminate the compositional segregation. The composition and piezoelectric/dielectric properties were evaluated. The TiO₂ variation in the crystal grown by the continuous feed was reduced to 6% compared to the variation in the crystal grown by the conventional Bridgman growth (hereafter abbreviated to CBG) which was over 20%. As a result of the homogenized composition, the crystal by the CFG exhibited uniform properties such as the piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃) range from 1300 to 1700 pC/N and the dielectric constant (Kr) range from 5200 to 6000.