High-temperature and high-power piezoelectric characteristics of (Bi 0.5Na0.5)TiO3-Based lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

Abstract

The high-power piezoelectric characteristics of (Bi0.5Na 0.5)TiO3 (BNT)-based solid solutions at a high temperature (∼130°C) were studied, by comparing them with those of hard Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) ceramics. The vibration velocity v0-p of the BNT-based ceramics was stable as the temperature increased to 130°C, whereas that of the PZT-based ceramics markedly decreased with increasing temperature. It is generally known that the stability of v0-p under high-amplitude vibration is related to mechanical losses caused by domain wall motion. Therefore, the temperature dependence of the mechanical quality factor Qm of these ceramics was measured by electric transient response measurement. The measured Qm values of the BNT-based ceramics were nearly constant or slightly decreased with increasing temperature, whereas Qm for the PZT ceramic markedly decreased with increasing temperature. © 2014 The Ceramic Society of Japan.