Solid state growth of Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3-BaTiO3 single crystals and their enhanced piezoelectric properties

High quality 95Na(1/2)Bi(1/2)TiO(3)-5BaTiO(3) (NBT-5BT) single crystals of 10 mm x 10 mm x 3 mm in size were fabricated by the solid state single crystal growth technique involving the sintering of proportioned powder compacts in contact with a seed. Structural studies with X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the as-grown single crystals have a rhombohedral (pseudo-cubic) single phase. The (0 0 1)(cubic)-oriented single crystals showed excellent dielectric and piezoelectric properties: epsilon(r) = 723, tan delta = 0.01 (1 kHz at 25 degrees C), d(33)=207 pC/N, and k(33)=0.5. These values are comparable to the best reported properties of melt-grown single crystals. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.