Lead zirconate titanate

About: Lead zirconate titanate is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7141 publications have been published within this topic receiving 150878 citations.

Microstructural and optical characterization of PZT nanopowder prepared at low temperature

Abstract: Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) nanopowders were synthesized by the metal organic and salt precursor's sol–gel combustion technique. Single-phase perovskite PZT powders were obtained after heat treatment at temperature of 500 °C. The effects of calcination temperature on lattice parameters and tetragonality of PZT powders have been discussed. The average particles size is estimated to be around 70–80 nm by SEM observations. The absorption coefficient ( α ) and the band-gap energy ( E g ) of the perovskite oxide have been estimated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.

Phase transformations in rapid thermal processed lead zirconate titanate

Abstract: The crystallization kinetics of the pyrochlore to perovskite phase transformation in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films have been analyzed using rapid thermal processing (RTP). Sol-gel PZT thin films, fabricated on platinum electrodes, were annealed at 550 °C to 650 °C with hold times ranging from 1 s to 5 min. Glancing angle x-ray diffraction (XRD) was used for depth profiling to identify the location of phases in the films. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provided information on grain structure, nucleation, and growth. The phase information was correlated to the ferroelectric and dielectric properties. The perovskite phase nucleated in the pyrochlore phase throughout the film thickness, and at 650 °C the transformation was complete in 15 s. Fast growing (100) PZT nucleated at the platinum and consumed a small-grained matrix until a columnar structure was obtained. A ramp rate of 100 °C/s was sufficiently fast to prevent transformation during heating and allowed the direct application of an Avrami model for transformation kinetics. An activation energy of 610 kJ/mol was determined.

Improvement of composite sol–gel process for manufacturing 40 μm piezoelectric thick films

Abstract: In this study, high performance piezoelectric thick films were prepared by depositing only a few sol–gel infiltrated composite layers on Si/SiO 2 /Ti/Pt wafers. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) powder, binder and infiltration sol were synthesised from the same-laboratory made time-stable polymeric PZT sol. Adding coarse powder (50 wt%) to the sol precursor, crack-free coatings were prepared by dip coating in the 30–50 μm thickness range in only 3–6 layers. The results showed that good performance can be achieved by controlling sol concentration, powder charge, composite sol ageing, number of infiltrations and heat treatments. The initial results showed that only a limited number of infiltrations are needed in the final stack to obtain high piezoelectric performance. For instance, a 40 μm thick film was prepared with 6 composite layers with a 0.7 M PZT sol charged with 50 wt% PZT powder after 2 months’ ageing. Poling was performed for 5 min under 15 V/μm in an oil bath at 170 °C after 5 infiltrations and final annealing at 700 °C for 10 min in RTA. Despite substrate clamping, this coating reached an effective thickness coupling factor up of to 39% at a resonance frequency of 30 MHz. This result was obtained with a non-doped PZT powder.

Effect of grain size and poling on the fracture mode of lead zirconate titanate ceramics

Abstract: The fracture mode of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics at room temperature is investigated as a function of grain size. The fracture mode is almost intergranular at small grain size and changes to predominantly transgranular at large grain size. Application of an electric field (poling) causes a change in the fracture mode from transgranular to intergranular. The observed fracture behavior of PZT ceramics is explained in relation to a possible domain structure.