Electrical investigation of sintering factors influence on PLZT ceramics

The role of technological factors like calcining and sintering temperature on the dielectric, electromechanical, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of PUT 9/65/35 ceramics has been investigated. This composition has been chosen because it shows the coexistence of normal micron-sized polar domains with nanodomains and it is therefore very sensitive to thermal history. The samples have been prepared by a conventional mixed oxide method followed by sintering in Pb-rich atmosphere, so that only B-site vacancies have been obtained. For all sets of samples the variation of technological parameters induced changes in the physical properties. A relatively high variation of the dielectric permittivity and field-induced strain has been found among samples sintered at different temperatures. These variations have been connected with the microstructural parameters (grain dimensions and distribution) found from SEM analysis. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.