Orientational contribution to the piezoelectric constants of BaTiO3 ceramic in ferroelectric phases with various symmetries

A self-consistent method based on the interaction of a piezoelectric sphere with a piezoelectric medium that has anisotropic elastic and dielectric properties is used to calculate the components of the tensor piezoelectric modulus of BaTiO₃ ceramic in all three ferroelectric modifications. A comparison of the calculated and measured piezoelectric moduli shows that at least 60–70% of the piezoelectric effect in BaTiO₃ ceramic is caused by domain boundary movement throughout the entire ferroelectric region. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 1080–1083 (June 1999)     

Bipolar cycling effects in BiFeO3–BaTiO3 piezoelectric ceramics

BiFeO₃–BaTiO₃ (BF-BT) lead-free piezoelectric system has been paid much attention due to good piezoelectric properties and high Curie temperature. Poling is a process to align ferroelectric domains and increase the piezoelectric coefficients. During the poling process, unipolar direct current (dc) electric fields were applied conventionally, but recently bipolar alternating current (ac) cycling was reported to improve piezoelectric properties in rhombohedral structure piezoelectric materials. We investigated the effects of dc-poling and ac-cycling in BF-BT ceramics. The d₃₃ increased from 210 pC/N with dc-poling to 240 pC/N with ac-cycling in the morphotropic phase boundary region of BF-BT with domain engineering. This improvement of piezoelectric properties with ac-cycling was consistent with the structural evolution related to ferroelectric domains.     

Dielectric,ferroelectric and field-induced strain response of lead-free BaZrO3-modified Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 ceramics

Lead-free piezoelectric ceramics (1 − x)Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃–xBaZrO₃ (BNT–BZ100x, with x = 0–0.10) were prepared using a conventional solid-state reaction method. The crystal structure, microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of BNT–BZ100x ceramics were studied as functions of different BZ content. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the BZ completely diffused in the BNT lattice in the studied composition range. An appropriate amount of BZ addition improved the dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of BNT ceramics. The remanent polarization (P_r) and piezoelectric constant (d₃₃) increased from 22 μC/cm² and 60 pC/N for pure BNT to 30 μC/cm² and 112 pC/N for x = 0.040, respectively. In addition, electric field-induced strain was enhanced to its maximum value (S_max = 0.40%) with normalized strain (d*₃₃ = S_max/E_max = 500 pm/V) at an applied electric field of 8 kV/mm for x = 0.055. The enhanced strain can be attributed to the coexistence of ferroelectric and relaxor ferroelectric phases.     

Improved properties & fatigue resistant behaviour OF Ba(Zr0.15Ti0.85)O3 ferroelectric ceramics

The microstructure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of Zr doped BaTiO₃ ceramics sintered at optimum temperature, are investigated. High energy ball milling technique is adopted to realize nano-sized powders of Ba(Zr_0.15Ti_0.85)O₃ ceramics. Increased boundary mobility of fine powders aided to obtain a relative density of >98.8% of theoretical density corresponding to ceramics under study. Internal stresses in these ceramics are found to be relieved by grain-boundary sliding. The Ba(Zr_0.15Ti_0.85)O₃ ceramics synthesized at relatively low sintering temperatures exhibit remarkable, enhanced dielectric properties viz. improved polarization, high unipolar strain values comparable to Zr doped BaTiO₃ single crystals of same composition, at relatively lower electric fields and also exhibit better fatigue tolerant properties. The underlying mechanisms responsible for superior dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties are discussed.     

Divide line between relaxor,diffused ferroelectric,ferroelectric and dielectric

The dielectric spectroscopic studies of relaxor ferroelectric Ba(Ti_0.70Sn_0.30)O₃ (BTS30), diffused ferroelectric Ba(Ti_0.70Sn_0.20)O₃ (BTS20), classical ferroelectric BaTiO₃ (BT0), and normal dielectric Ba(Fe_0.50Ta_0.50O₃) (BFT) were carried out in the temperatures ～100 K–650 K, and frequencies ～100 Hz–1 MHz, which showed relaxor behavior at 130 K with typical 30 K frequency dispersion, perfect diffused ferroelectric character at 190 K, classical ferroelectric, and dielectric relaxation at 450 K–550 K respectively. A divide line was sketched between the relaxors, ferroelectrics and normal dielectrics based on the Maxwell–Wagner space charge model. The impedance spectroscopy and ac conductivity spectroscopy were carried out to explain the relaxor and pseudo relaxor behavior.     

Piezoelectric/photoluminescence effects in rare-earth doped lead-free ceramics

In the present work, we report the environmentally-friendly multifunctional effects—piezoelectric/photoluminescence effects, which originated from the combination of the electromechanical properties and the photoluminescence effect through introducing the rare-earth elements (Pr and Eu) into the (Bi_0.5Na_0.5)TiO₃–BaTiO₃ ceramics with the composition around the morphotropic phase boundary. Compared to the pure piezoelectric ceramic, the proposed system simultaneously exhibited enhanced ferroelectric, piezoelectric, dielectric properties along with strong photoluminescence effects, which exhibited potential applications in sensor, and electro-mechano-optical integration. In addition, the present work also provides a promising path for us to fabricate multifunctional composites.     

Electronic,optical, vibrational and EFG properties of tetragonal BaTiO3 under pressure: By first-principles study

The First principles study on structural, electronic, Electron Field Gradient (EFG), optical and vibrational properties of tetragonal BaTiO₃ have been done in the framework of Density Functional Theory (DFT). Obtained structural properties are in agreement with others, and also the electronic study shows that the tetragonal BaTiO₃ has an indirect energy gap (E_g) about 1.864 eV by GGA and 2.6 eV by GGA-mbj at equilibrium state which E_g shifts toward small values by decreasing pressure. By increasing pressure to 31.479 GPa, the EFG decrease for O atom, and increase for Ba and Ti atoms that is a sign to piezoelectric property for tetragonal BaTiO₃. The optical parameters were studied under pressure, such as the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function, Loss function, reflection index, absorption coefficient, conductivity and reflection. Moreover, by applying hydrostatic pressure, the roots of the real part of the dielectric function shift toward higher energies, and the energy loss and absorption peak intensity were reduced. Finally, lattice vibration survey indicates the stability of tetragonal BaTiO₃ under pressure.     

Synthesis and characterizations of BNT–BT–KNN ceramics for energy storage applications

Dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of the (0.94–x) Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃–0.06BaTiO₃–xK_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃/BNT–BT–KNN ceramics with x = 0.02 and 0.05 (2KNN and 5KNN) were studied in detail. Dielectric study and temperature-dependent polarization hysteresis loops indicated a ferroelectric-to-antiferroelectric transition at depolarization temperature (T_d). The low T_d in both the ceramic samples suggested the dominant antiferroelectric ordering at room temperature (RT), which was also confirmed by RT polarization and strain hysteresis loops studies. Antiferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transition temperature (T_m) was nearly same for both systems. The 5KNN ceramic samples showed the relaxor behaviour. The values of the dielectric constant, T_d, and maximum strain percentage increased, whereas the coercive field and remnant polarization decreased with the increase of the KNN percentage in the BNT–BT–KNN system. High-energy storage density ～0.5 J/cm³ at RT hinted about the suitability of the 5KNN system for energy storage applications.     

Ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism in fine-grained multiferroic BaTiO3/(Ni0.5Zn0.5)Fe2O4 composites prepared by a novel hybrid process

Dense, homogeneous, and fine-grained multiferroic BaTiO₃/(Ni_0.5Zn_0.5)Fe₂O₄ composite ceramics are synthesized by a novel powder-in-sol precursor hybrid processing route. This route includes the dispersion of nanosized BaTiO₃ ferroelectric powders prepared via conventional sold-state ceramic process into (Ni_0.5Zn_0.5)Fe₂O₄ ferromagnetic sol-gel precursor prepared via a sol-gel wet chemistry process. The composite ceramics show coexistence of obvious ferroelectric and ferromagnetic hysteresis loops at room temperature. Very low dielectric loss of about 0.02–0.0067 in the range of 10 kHz–10 MHz can be achieved, which is about an order of magnitude lower than the results of many reports using conventional processes at room temperature. The combination of high permeability and permittivity with low losses in the ceramics enables significant miniaturization of electronic devices based on the ceramics.     

(Ba, Ca)(Ti, Zr)O3-BiFeO3 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

Effects of BiFeO₃ (BFO) content on the microstructure and electrical properties of Ba_0.85Ca_0.15Ti_0.90Zr_0.10O₃ (BCTZ) ceramics prepared by normal sintering in air were investigated. A stable solid solution is formed between BCTZ and BFO. The grain size gradually becomes smaller, and the ceramics become denser with increasing the BFO content. The Curie temperature, dielectric constant, and dielectric loss of BCTZ ceramics decrease simultaneously with the introduction of BFO. Moreover, the remanent polarization reaches a maximum at x = 0.2 mol%, and the coercive field continuously increases with increasing the BFO content due to the introduction of BFO with a higher coercive field. Improved piezoelectric properties (d₃₃ ∼ 405 pC/N and k_p ∼ 0.44) are demonstrated for the BCTZ ceramic with x = 0.2 mol%.     

Room temperature photoluminescence of BCT prepared by Complex Polymerization Method

It was used the Complex Polymerization Method to synthesize barium calcium titanate powders (BCT). Crystalline Ba_0.8Ca_0.2TiO₃ perovskite-type phase could be identified by X-ray diffraction and confirmed by Raman spectroscopy in the powders heat treated at 600 °C. Inherent defects, linked to structural disorder, facilitate the photoluminescence emission. The photoluminescent emission peak maximum was around of 533 nm (2.33 eV) for the Ba_0.8Ca_0.2TiO₃. The photoluminescence process and the band emission energy photon showed dependence of both the structural order–disorder and the thermal treatment history. The results revealed that Ba_0.8Ca_0.2TiO₃ (BCT20) is a highly promising candidate material for optical applications.     

Ferroelectric relaxor properties of (1 − x)K0.5Na0.5NbO3–xBa0.5Ca0.5TiO3 ceramics

The Ba_0.5Ca_0.5TiO₃ (BCT) composition dependent dielectric and structural properties of (1?x)K_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃–xBa_0.5Ca_0.5TiO₃ powders were investigated. Room temperature x-ray diffraction revealed the powder structure to transform from orthorhombic to cubic with increasing BCT composition. The frequency dependent dielectric constant measurements revealed a shift in the temperature of the maximum dielectric constant for at frequencies, suggesting that the system exhibits ferroelectric relaxor behavior. The system containing 15% BCT showed the closest calculated Curie–Weiss exponent to 2, which the exponent for a relaxor ferroelectric.     

Lead-free ferroelectric BaTiO3 doped-(Na0.5Bi0.5)TiO3 thin films processed by pulsed laser deposition technique

The difficulties in synthesizing phase pure BaTiO₃ doped-(Na_0.5Bi_0.5)TiO₃ are known. In this work, we reporting the optimized pulsed laser deposition (PLD) conditions for obtaining pure phase 0.92(Na_0.5Bi_0.5)TiO₃-0.08BaTiO₃, (BNT-BT_0.08), thin films. Dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of BNT-BT_0.08, thin films deposited by PLD on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si substrates are investigated in this paper. Perovskite structure of BNT-BT_0.08 thin films with random orientation of nanocrystallites has been obtained by deposition at 600 °C. The relative dielectric constant and loss tangent at 100 kHz, of BNT-BT_0.08 thin film with 530 nm thickness, were 820 and 0.13, respectively. Ferroelectric hysteresis measurements indicated a remnant polarization value of 22 μC/cm² and a coercive field of 120 kV/cm. The piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) data showed that most of the grains seem to be constituted of single ferroelectric domain. The as-deposited BNT-BT_0.08 thin film is ferroelectric at the nanoscale level and piezoelectric.     

Effect of sintering temperature on phase formation,microstructure and dielectric properties of nanogold modified barium titanate ceramics

In this work, BaTiO₃ ceramics modified with 0.5 mol% Au nanoparticles were fabricated by using a combination of the solid-state reaction and pressureless-sintering techniques. By employing a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), Archimedes principle and dielectric measurement techniques, it was found that no phases other than tetragonal BaTiO₃ were observed in all ceramics. In contrast to the tetragonality, the relative density, grain size and maximum dielectric constant at Curie temperature of the ceramics were found to increase with sintering temperature. In addition, it has been found that, under suitable sintering temperature, dense perovskite nanogold modified BaTiO₃ ceramics with fine-grained microstructure (∼1 μm) and better dielectric properties than those of gold-free ceramics can be produced.     

Colloidal,Functional, Piezoelectric BaTiO3-Au Nanohybrid for Wireless Cell Therapy

Ultrasound-assisted reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation from piezoelectric nanomaterial offers unique wireless therapeutic approach in remote places. In the previous work, piezoelectric barium titanate (BaTiO₃) nanorod have been synthesized and used for wireless cell therapy. However, the piezoelectric property of BaTiO₃ nanorod needs further improvement for diverse applications. In this work, it is shown that gold nanoparticle conjugation with BaTiO₃ nanorod (BaTiO₃-Au) can significantly enhance the piezoelectric performance with the piezoelectric constant value of 110 pm V⁻¹. The colloidal BaTiO₃-Au is further functionalized with folate for selective targeting of folate-overexpressed cancer cells and used for wireless cell therapy via intracellular ROS generation under ultrasound exposure. The synthesized colloidal nanohybrid can be used for various therapeutic applications.     

SEM,SAED, and TEM investigations of domain structure in PZT ceramics at morphotropic phase boundary

SEM investigations of ferroelectric domain structure in PbZr_0.53Ti_0.47O₃ are consistent with a model of spatial domain configuration for the piezoelectric ceramics previously proposed for BaTiO₃. TEM and SAED results revealed not only the twinning relation of adjacent tetragonal 90° domains but also the simultaneous presence of the ferroelectric rhombohedral phase. A succession model of ferroelectric domains T₁RT₂RT₁... which needs a smaller energy for the rotation of the polarization vector due to the coexistence of a R domain between the two T 90° domains is proposed. This model is also confirmed by the estimated value of elastically stored energy in the mixed wall and by the dependence upon the sintering temperature of T and R unit cell distortions previously measured by x-ray diffraction.     

Ground state and properties of ferroelectric superlattices based on crystals of the perovskite family

The crystal structure of the ground state of ten free-standing ferroelectric superlattices based on crystals with the perovskite structure (BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃, PbTiO₃/SrTiO₃, PbTiO₃/PbZrO₃, SrZrO₃/SrTiO₃, PbZrO₃/BaZrO₃, BaTiO₃/BaZrO₃, PbTiO₃/BaTiO₃, BaTiO₃/CaTiO₃, KNbO₃/KTaO₃, and KNbO₃/NaNbO₃) was calculated from first principles within the density functional theory taking into account criteria for stability of the structures with respect to acoustic and optical distortions. It was shown that the ground state in all the considered superlattices corresponds to the ferroelectric phase. It was found that the polarization vector has a tendency toward a tilt to the plane of the superlattice layers, which makes it possible to decrease the electrostatic and elastic energy in the superlattices consisting of materials with different ferroelectric properties. The importance of the inclusion of structural distortions due to unstable phonons at the Brillouin zone boundary, which, in a number of cases, lead to significant changes in ferroelectric and dielectric properties of the superlattices, was demonstrated.     

质子对BaTiO3薄膜辐照损伤的计算机模拟

本文先应用分子动力学模拟BaTiO₃体系在初级击出原子(primary knock-on atom, PKA)轰击下缺陷产生和复合的动力学过程, 模拟结果表明：PKA的方向和能量对缺陷数目有重要影响, 并计算了Ba, O和Ti原子的平均位移阈能分别为69 eV, 51 eV和123 eV, 远大于SRIM程序默认的位移阈能25 eV. 然后应用蒙特卡罗软件包SRIM, 模拟质子在BaTiO₃薄膜中的能量损失过程, 比较位移阈能对模拟结果的影响, 分析质子能量和入射角度对空位数量以及分布的影响. 结果表明空位数量随着质子能量增加而增加, 增加的速率随能量的增加是降低的;当入射角度大于60°, 空位数量随入射角增大而明显减少.     

Dielectric response in ferroelectric BaTiO3

The far-infrared optical and dielectric properties of ferroelectric perovskite titanate powder BaTiO₃ are reported. The terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) measurement reveals that the low frequency dielectric response of BaTiO₃ is closely related to the lowest pair of transverse optical (TO) and longitudinal optical (LO) modes near at 180 cm⁻¹, which is verified by Raman spectroscopy. This result provides a better understanding of the relation of low-frequency dielectric function with the optical phonon mode for ferroelectric materials. Combining terahertz TDS with Raman spectra, the overall low frequency optical phonon response of BaTiO₃ is presented in an extended spectral range from 6.7 to 1200 cm⁻¹.     

Diluted magnetic ferroelectric effect in BaTi0.9Hf0.05Co0.05O3 ceramic

We report that magnetism, especially ferromagnetism, can be induced in a nonmagnetic ferroelectric oxide such as barium titanate (BaTiO₃) with choosing of suitable dopants. High-density polycrystalline sample of BaTi_0.9Hf_0.05Co_0.05O₃ was prepared using solid-state sintering route, and the effect of Co and Hf substitution on structural, magnetic and ferroelectric properties of BaTiO₃ was studied. The magnetic order obtained in the above sample is of intrinsic in nature. Ferromagnetic behavior shown in the BaTi_0.9Hf_0.05Co_0.05O₃ ceramic may be attributed to the effective exchange interactions between oxygen vacancies and Co ions. BaTi_0.9Hf_0.05Co_0.05O₃ ceramic has also shown ferroelectric (lossy type) behavior.