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Growth of Dense Single Crystals of Potassium Sodium Niobate by a Combination of Solid‐State Crystal Growth and Hot Pressing
Author(s) -
Fisher John G.,
Benc̆an Andreja,
Kosec Marija,
Vernay Sophie,
Rytz Daniel
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2008.02324.x
Subject(s) - materials science , hot pressing , single crystal , piezoelectricity , sintering , pressing , seed crystal , crystal growth , crystal (programming language) , porosity , mineralogy , composite material , crystallography , chemistry , computer science , programming language
(K 0.5 Na 0.5 )NbO 3 (KNN) is a potential lead‐free replacement for Pb(Zr, Ti)O 3 (PZT) piezoceramics, but its piezoelectric properties are inferior to those of PZT. By growing single crystals of KNN, it may be possible to improve the piezoelectric properties. Recently, single crystals of KNN were grown by the solid‐state crystal growth (SSCG) method, but the crystals were very porous. In this paper, a method of growing dense single crystals by SSCG in a hot press will be described. (110)‐oriented single seed crystals of KTaO 3 were buried in KNN powder, with 0.5 mol% of K 4 CuNb 8 O 23 added as a sintering aid. After consolidation by uniaxial and isostatic pressing, the tablets were hot pressed in a two‐stage treatment. During hot pressing, dense single crystals of KNN grew using the KTaO 3 seed crystal as a template. The effect of hot pressing on single crystal growth will be discussed.