Temperature‐Dependent Poling Behavior of Lead‐free BZT–BCT Piezoelectrics

Abstract

A high temperature poling method to improve the piezoelectric properties of the recently discovered lead‐free system: Ba(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8 )O 3 –x(Ba 0.7 Ca 0.3 )TiO 3 ( BZT–BCT ) has been developed. The effective d 33 value and strain level can be increased by 40% when samples are cooled under field through the Curie temperature. The ferroelastic domain contribution appears quite modest relative to the strain improvement. An internal bias field, induced by defect charge carriers accumulation at grain boundaries, may facilitate the intergranular interactions resulting in larger lattice strains.