High piezoelectric performance in a new Bi-based perovskite of (1-x)Bi(Ni1/2Hf1/2)O3-xPbTiO3

Preparation, piezoelectric, and dielectric properties were investigated in a new Bi-based piezoelectric material of (1-x)Bi(Ni1/2Hf1/2)O-3-xPbTiO(3). The system can form a pure perovskite structure with the morphotropic phase boundary locating at x = 0.62, separating the rhombohedral and tetragonal phases. It is interesting to observe that the morphotropic phase boundary composition shows a very high piezoelectric coefficient of d(33) (446 pC/N), which is comparable to BiScO3-PbTiO3 (460 pC/N). The Curie temperature of the morphotropic phase boundary is around 290 degrees C. Furthermore, the system has a relatively low coercive field, which makes the poling easily. Temperature dependence of dielectric properties also shows that the Bi(Ni1/2Hf1/2)O-3-PbTiO3 system has a strong relaxor feature. Present new Bi-based perovskite of Bi(Ni1/2Hf1/2)O-3-PbTiO3 is a competitive piezoelectric material with high piezoelectric performance. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4769405]