Characterization of piezoelectric materials with large piezoelectric and electromechanical coupling coefficients

The relaxor based ferroelectric (1 - x)Pb(Zn(1/3)Nb(2/3))O(3)-xPbTiO(3) and (1 - x)Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O(3)-xPbTiO(3) single crystals provided new challenges in property characterization because their extraordinarily large piezoelectric coefficients and electromechanical coupling coefficients. Large errors may occur in some of the derived material constants using conventional characterization techniques. This paper will analyze the inadequacy of the traditional characterization methods and provide some basic guidelines for properly characterizing piezoelectric materials with extremely high piezoelectric and electromechanical coupling coefficients. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.