Piezoelectric property enhancement in polycrystalline lead zirconate titanate by changing cutting angle

The effective piezoelectric strain constant d(33) and electromechanical coupling factor k(33) of polycrystalline lead zirconate titanate (PZT) at different cutting angles have been measured by using the IEEE standard resonance method. It was found that for tetragonal PZT 48/52, the effective d(33) and k(33) monotonously decreases as the cutting angle canted from the poling direction increases. However, for rhombohedral PZT 54/46, the effective d(33) has the maximum value along a direction which is canted about 45 degrees away from the poling direction, while the effective electromechanical coupling factor is not sensitive to the cutting direction and remains almost constant in the cutting angle range from 0 degrees to 45 degrees.