Origin of high piezoelectric response of Pb(Zr_xTi_1-x)O_3 at the morphotropic phase boundary: Role of elastic instability

Abstract

Temperature dependent structural changes in a nearly pure monoclinic phase composition (x=0.525) of Pb(Zr_xTi_1-x)O_3 (PZT) have been investigated using Rietveld analysis of high-resolution synchrotron powder x-ray diffraction data and correlated with changes in the dielectric constant and planar electromechanical coupling coefficient. Our results show that the intrinsic piezoelectric response of the tetragonal phase of PZT is higher than that of the monoclinic phase. It is also shown that the high piezoelectric response of PZT may be linked with an anomalous softening of the elastic modulus (1/S_11) of the tetragonal compositions closest to the morphotropic phase boundary.

13 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (1)

• High-resolution synchrotron XRD study of Zr-rich compositions of Pb(Zr_xTi_1-x)O_3 (0.525\leq x \leq 0.60): evidence for the absence of the rhombohedral phase

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Super-R BiFeO${}_3$: Epitaxial stabilization of a low-symmetry phase with giant electromechanical response
• Effects of coupling between octahedral tilting and polar modes on the phase diagram of PbZr1-xTixO3 (PZT)
• Evidence for a tricritical point coinciding with the triple point in (Pb0.94Sr0.06)(ZrxTi1-x)O3 : A combined synchrotron x-ray diffraction, dielectric and Landau theory study
• Confirmation of the monoclinic Cc space group for the ground state phase of Pb(Zr0.525Ti0.475)O3 (PZT525): A Combined Synchrotron X-Ray and Neutron Powder Diffraction Study
• Ground state of (Pb0.94Sr0.06)(Zr0.530Ti0.470)O3 in the morphotropic phase boundary region: Evidence for a monoclinic Cc space group