Crystal growth and property characterization for PIN–PMN–PT ternary piezoelectric crystals

Binary piezoelectric crystal Pb ( Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 ) O 3 – PbTiO 3 (PMN–PT) has excellent dielectric and piezoelectric properties, which has led to the commercialization for medical ultrasound imaging. Recently, there is a growing demand for piezoelectric crystals with improved thermal and electrical properties. Ternary piezoelectric crystals Pb ( In 1/2 Nb 1/2 ) O 3 – Pb ( Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 ) O 3 – PbTiO 3 (PIN–PMN–PT) have increased depoling temperature and coercive field than binary PMN–PT. To better understand the ternary crystal system and improve crystal properties, we systematically investigated crystal growth of PIN–PMN–PT with modified Bridgman method. Like PMN–PT, PIN–PMN–PT crystals have excellent piezoelectric properties (e.g., k 33 ~ 0.87–0.92, d 33 ~ 1000–2200 pm/V ). Higher PIN content leads to ~40°C increase in depoling temperature and more than doubling of coercive field(~7.0 kV/cm). Such improvements are advantageous for applications where high temperature and/or high-drive are needed.