Influence of radial stress on the poling behaviour of lead zirconate titanate ceramics

The development of new piezoelectric materials is often hampered by high electrical conductivity or coercive fields, which make it virtually impossible to produce sufficient levels of electric polarization by application of an external electric field. As a remedy, we utilize a new poling method: stress-assisted poling, which is based on the simultaneous application of electrical field and mechanical stress. The method is demonstrated on a commercial ferroelectric (PZT PIC 151). The poling field E* where most domain switching occurs is reduced by about 40% if a radial compressive stress of about 90 MPa is applied to the sample. The piezoelectric coefficient d(33) is determined for different load magnitudes. Variations of both remnant and maximum polarization are determined with respect to the magnitude of compressive radial stress. (c) 2006 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.