Showing papers by "Thomas R. Shrout published in 2018"

Ultrahigh piezoelectricity in ferroelectric ceramics by design

Abstract: Piezoelectric materials, which respond mechanically to applied electric field and vice versa, are essential for electromechanical transducers. Previous theoretical analyses have shown that high piezoelectricity in perovskite oxides is associated with a flat thermodynamic energy landscape connecting two or more ferroelectric phases. Here, guided by phenomenological theories and phase-field simulations, we propose an alternative design strategy to commonly used morphotropic phase boundaries to further flatten the energy landscape, by judiciously introducing local structural heterogeneity to manipulate interfacial energies (that is, extra interaction energies, such as electrostatic and elastic energies associated with the interfaces). To validate this, we synthesize rare-earth-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT), as rare-earth dopants tend to change the local structure of Pb-based perovskite ferroelectrics. We achieve ultrahigh piezoelectric coefficients d33 of up to 1,500 pC N-1 and dielectric permittivity e33/e0 above 13,000 in a Sm-doped PMN-PT ceramic with a Curie temperature of 89 °C. Our research provides a new paradigm for designing material properties through engineering local structural heterogeneity, expected to benefit a wide range of functional materials.

Recent Developments in Piezoelectric Crystals

Abstract: Piezoelectric materials are essential parts of the electronics and electrical equipment used for consumer and industrial applications, such as ultrasonic piezoelectric transducers, sensors, actuators, transformers, and resonators. In this review, the development of piezoelectric materials and the figures of merit for various electromechanical applications are surveyed, focusing on piezoelectric crystals, i.e., the high-performance relaxor-PbTiO3-based perovskite ferroelectric crystals and nonferroelectric hightemperature piezoelectric crystals. The uniqueness of these crystals is discussed with respect to different usages. Finally, the existing challenges and perspective for the piezoelectric crystals are discussed, with an emphasis on the temperature-dependent properties, from cryogenic temperatures up to the ultrahigh-temperature usage range.

High-Performance Ultrasound Needle Transducer Based on Modified PMN-PT Ceramic With Ultrahigh Clamped Dielectric Permittivity

Abstract: A modified Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) polycrystalline ceramic with ultrahigh relative clamped dielectric permittivity ( $\varepsilon ^{S}/\varepsilon _{0} = 3500$ ) and high piezoelectric properties ( $d_{33}= 1200$ pC/N, $k_{t} = 0.55$ ) was used to fabricate high-frequency miniature ultrasound transducers. A 39-MHz high-frequency ultrasound needle transducer with a miniature aperture of 0.4 mm $\times0.4$ mm was designed and successfully characterized. The fabricated needle transducer had an electromechanical coupling factor $k_{t}$ of 0.55, large bandwidth of 80% at −6 dB, and low insertion loss of −13 dB. A wire phantom and porcine eyeball imaging study showed good imaging capability of this needle transducer. The transducer performance was found to be superior to that of other needle transducers with miniature apertures, making this modified PMN-PT ceramic-based needle transducer quite promising for minimally invasive procedures in medical applications.