Effects of CuO addition on the electrical responses of the low-temperature sintered Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 ceramics

Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O-3 ceramics were prepared using the conventional mixed-oxide route. The effects of CuO addition on the phase transition and electrical responses were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the phase of the material changed from an rhombo-hedral structure to a MPB structure and then a tetragonal structure when the CuO content was increased from 0.00 to 0.30 wt.%. The P-E hysteresis loops of CuO-doped PZT-PMN-PZN ceramics showed pinched shapes instead of the normal square-like P-E loops. The pinched loops were assumed to be the result of the pinning effect of the defect dipoles. Optimized electrical properties, such as d(33) = 280 pC/N, k(p) = 0.53, tan delta = 0.0090, Q(m) = 1645 and epsilon(r) = 982, were achieved by doping 0.20 wt.% CuO in PZT-PMN-PZN ceramics sintered at 920 degrees C. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.