Development of Ferroelectric Materials with Enhanced Piezoelectric and Optical Properties via Domain Engineering for Electromechanical Transducer Applications
Abstract
Piezo-/ferroelectric materials play an crucial role in electromechanical sensors and actuators for a wide range of applications. Among the most interesting recent results in the field of ferroelectric materials is the development of a new fabrication method, that is poling with an AC electric field. The AC poling allows to improve significantly the piezoelectric performance of the existing relaxor-based crystals of PMN-PT and related systems which are used in the nextgeneration of electrotechnical transducers in sonars, actuators, energy harvesting devices, etc. Furthermore, this poling method can result in unique crystals that combine ultrahigh piezoelectric and large electro-optic coefficients with near-perfect transparency. Such crystals may be employed in a wide range of new hybrid device applications, i.e. self-energy-harvesting touch screens, invisible robotic devices, medical imaging transducers. The mechanisms of the phenomenon are arguably related to ferroelectric domain engineering, but the details remaincontroversial: some researchers explained the improvement of properties in AC-poled materials by a comparatively large domain size, while others observed sub-micrometer domains and enhanced domain wall density. In this proposed research program, we aim at unveiling and understanding the mechanisms of AC-poling by studying the domain engineering mechanisms in perovskite ferroelectric crystals using a variety of experimental techniques including polarized light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and piezoresponce force microscopy, measurements of macroscopic piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties, dielectric spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and spectrophotometry. In addition to the relaxor-based Generation I (PMN-PTand PZN-PT) and Generation II (PIN-PMN-PT) crystals, AC poling will be studied in the rhombohedral, monoclinic and tetragonal compositions of PZT crystals and Bi-based solid solution systems developed in our laboratory. Single crystals will be grown using and highZuo-temperature solution growth method and top-seeded solution growth technique. The results obtained in this research will contribute to the understanding of the domain engineering mechanisms which may improve the properties of smart materials, and to the development ofmethods of synthesis, optimization and production of innovative materials for piezoelectric, electro-optic and hybrid ultrasoundoptical devices.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 05, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112085
Entities
People
- Zuo-Guang Ye
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Simon Fraser University
- United States Navy