Giant Electrostrictive Responses and Temperature Insensitive Strain in Barium Titanate-Based Ceramics

Here, a large electrostrictive response and temperature-insensitive strain in BaTiO3 ceramics are realized by introducing (M0.5N0.5)TiO3 (M = K/Na/Li, N = rare earth elements). Temperature (25-130 degrees C) insensitivity of the giant electrostrictive coefficient (Q(33) = 0.05-0.07 m(4) C-2) is observed in BT-(Li, Ho/Y/Yb)T ceramics, which is almost twice larger than those of other classical ferroelectric ceramics. In addition, the overall variation of the strain value in 0.95BaTiO(3)-0.05(Li0.5Ho0.5)TiO3 [BT-(Li, Ho)T] ceramics is less than 5% in the temperature range of room temperature to 130 degrees C, which is obviously superior to the reported results. It is also found that the Curie temperature of this work can be increased up to 130-145 degrees C by optimizing the compositions. It is believed that the temperature-insensitive strain and giant electrostrictive effect can promote the development of lead-free BaTiO3 ceramics.