Ferroelectricity and electromechanical coupling in (1-x)AgNbO3-xNaNbO3 solid solutions

We observed the evolution of polarization states and electromechanical coupling in (1 - x) AgNbO3-xNaNbO(3) solid solutions using dielectric and strain hysteresis loop techniques and show that the polarization evolves from the ferrielectric ordering in AgNbO3 to the ferroelectric ordering in NaNbO3. The crossover between these two states occurs in the solid solution with x approximate to 0.8. A strain level approximate to 0.20% is available in the ceramics of these solid solutions. Such a large electromechanical effect might be interesting for the development of piezoelectric materials. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3609234]