Microstructure and piezoelectric properties of <001> fiber textured Pb(Mg13/Nb23/)O3-34.5PbTiO3 ceramics

Textured PMN-PT ceramics were synthesized by homo-template grain growth (HTGG) using PMN-PT nano-particles and cubic single crystal templates (50 μm). Samples are prepared using doctor Blade method and sintered in PbO controlled atmosphere. Orientation of the templates was obtained during tape casting. Textured tape cast ceramics display quasi complete [001] texture (f=0.99) in the cubic phase. The (111) pole figure reveals [001] fiber texture in accordance with optical observation. The texture was obtained in all the volume and only small orientation distribution (<6°) was observed. Smart Raman imaging shows that the final composition is very close to that of the matrix. Piezoelectric properties measured at low level using RIE method show that coupling efficiency of tape cast textured ceramics (k_p =0.69, d₃₃= 600pC/N) are about twice of tape cast random ceramics but only ∼20% better than random optimized disk ceramic. Regarding low orientation distribution of the high textured ceramics, we conclude that poling process and ferroelectric domain reorganization have to be extensively studied to clarify behavior of textured ceramics.