Preparation of barium titanate-bismuth magnesium titanate ceramics with high Curie temperature and their piezoelectric properties

Abstract

Barium titanate (BaTiO3, BT)-bismuth magnesium titanium oxide (Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3, BMT) solid solution system ceramics were prepared using nanoparticles in atmosphere to enhance Curie temperature (Tc) of BT, 132°C, to much higher temperature. Optimization of calcination and sintering conditions resulted in a formation of a perovskite single-phase, and their densities were always greater than 94%. The synchrotron XRD measurement revealed that the all ions in the ceramics had almost homogeneous distribution. Temperature dependence of dielectric property revealed that the BT-BMT system ceramics was typical relaxor materials, and for the 0.5BT-0.5BMT ceramics, the dielectric maximum was clearly observed at 360°C. Finally, their apparent piezoelectric constant (d*) were measured by electric-field dependence of strain at room temperature, and the d* value was measured at around 60pm/V for the 0.4BT-0.6BMT ceramics. © 2010 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved.