AgNbO3:: A lead-free material with large polarization and electromechanical response

Polarization measurements reveal that AgNbO3 has an extremely large polarization, which can reach a value of 52 mu C/cm(2) in polycrystals. Experiments also show that the large internal atom distortion in AgNbO3 is also strongly coupled to the electric field, indicating that high piezoelectric performance can be realized in AgNbO3 system. This finding opens the way to designing a new class of lead-free, high-performance piezoelectric materials based on AgNbO3. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.