Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Properties of BiFeO₃-BaTiO₃Solid Solution Ceramics

Abstract

Effects of heat-treat procedure and sintering temperatures were investigated in 0.67Bi_1.05FeO_3-0.33BaTiO₃ceramics. The structure, dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of ceramics made by normal cooling or quenched cooling process were investigated. All ceramics show single pseudo-cubic perovskite crystal structure. Although the structure was not changed but other properties were much changed by heat-treatment. The normally cooled ceramic showed ‘pinched’ ferroelectric hysteresis loops with remanent polarization value of about 10 μC/cm². On the contrary, the quenched ceramic showed ‘normal’ ferroelectric hysteresis loops with remanent polarization value of about 17 μC/cm². The piezoelectric constant d ₃₃value of 13 pC/N in normally cooled ceramic was improved to 39 pC/N in quenched ceramic. These improved results were attributed to the reduced populations of defects made during the heat-treatments.

Keywords:

• BiFeO₃
• BaTiO₃
• ferroelectric
• piezoelectric
• solid solution
• quenching

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST, 2011-0027336, 2012-0007403, and 2012-0009457) and by the Priority Research Centers Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the MEST (2012-045424).