Textured Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-Pb[(Zn,Ni)1/3Nb2/3]O3 multilayer ceramics and their application to piezoelectric actuators

0.69Pb(Zr0.47Ti0.53)-0.31Pb[(Zn0.4Ni0.6)(1/3)Nb-2/3]O-3 (PZT-PZNN) thick films were textured at 950 degrees C along the [001] direction using BaTiO3 (BT) platelets. The 80Ag/20Pd electrodes coated on the PZT-PZNN thick films considerably assisted the texturing of the thick film. PZT-PZNN thick films with 5 vol% BT seeds exhibited a large strain (0.33% at 4.0 kV/mm) and d(33)* (1,040 pm/V at 1.5 kV/mm). Because the variations in d(33)* and strain of the PZT-PZNN thick films were not explained by Rayleigh's law, the experimental formula, which fits the measured d(33)* and strain, was suggested. Multilayer ceramics (MLCs) comprising five layers of textured PZT-PZNN thick films were fabricated at 950 degrees C. Cantilever-type actuators produced by textured PZT-PZNN MLCs exhibited a large acceleration (46.9 G) and displacement (10.5 mm) at 50 V, which were much larger than those (32.6 G and 7 mm) of the actuators produced by untextured MLCs. Therefore, textured piezoelectric thick film can considerably improve the actuating properties of piezoelectric actuators. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.