AC poling-induced giant piezoelectricity and high mechanical quality factor in [001] PMN-PZT hard single crystals

• Published in: Sensors and actuators. A. Physical. 2024-07, Vol.372, p.115342, Article 115342
• Main Authors: Kumar, Ajeet, Kim, Wonhyung, Sriboriboon, Panithan, Lee, Ho-Yong, Kim, Yunseok, Ryu, Jungho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AC poling; Domains; Piezoelectricity; PMN-PZT; Single crystal
• ISSN: 0924-4247; 1873-3069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.sna.2024.115342

Recently, a novel poling technique is introduced for the piezoelectric single crystals (SCs) which uses an AC electric field, opposite to the common practice of DC poling (DCP). However, AC poling (ACP) has mostly been used for soft (Generation II) SCs. This study reports ACP induced high piezoelectricity in an Mn-doped [001] Pb(Mg,Nb)O3–Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PMN-PZT) hard SC (Generation III). The ACP [001] PMN-PZT hard SC showed a giant piezoelectric charge coefficient (d33) of >2000 pC/N, a high mechanical quality factor (Qm) of >300, an increase in the dielectric constant (∼250%), and rhombohedral to tetragonal phase transition temperature (TR-T ≈ 136 °C) with a 26% increase in the coercive field (Ec). The piezoforce microscopy images of the ACP SC showed smaller domains with a narrow domain size distribution, which may result in higher piezoelectric properties. The single crystal which shows the highest d33 with a high value of Qm of 266, was poled using ACP conditions of 1 Hz and 600 s with 600 cycles. The ACP SC also showed excellent fatigue endurance with low fatigue in the remanent polarization (Pr), Ec, and internal bias field (Ein). [Display omitted] •A giant d33 of >2000 pC/N was found for the AC Poled [001] PMN-PZT hard SC.•AC poled SC show a high mechanical quality factor (Qm) of >300.•An increase in TR-T phase transition temperature of 136°C was shown by an AC poled SC.•The ACP SC show smaller domains with a narrow domain size distribution.•AC poled SC show a 26% increase in the Ec with excellent fatigue endurance.