The Influence of the Elemental Composition, Crystal Structure, and Grain Structure of the Ferro-Piezoceramics of Various Degrees of the Ferro-Hardness on the Stability of the Polarized State

Abstract

Ferro-piezoceramic materials (FPCM) with different degrees of ferrohardness were fabricated by double solid-phase synthesis followed by the sintering technique using hot pressing method. The X-ray studies carried out in a wide temperature range showed that with increasing temperature, each of the studied FPCM undergoes a series of phase transformations, accompanied by a change in the symmetry of the unit cell. In this case, near the phase transition to the nonpolar cubic phase, in each of the FPCM, the formation of a fuzzy symmetry region is observed, which is characterized by weak distortions and temperature–time instability of the crystal structure. The study of the piezoelectric modulus d33 in the quasi-static regime as a function of temperature made it possible to reveal the different nature of its behavior in materials of various degrees of ferrohardness. It was shown that the conservation of the state in ferrosoft materials above the Curie temperature is associated with the relaxation nature of the change in their properties, the existence of a region of fuzzy symmetry (noncubic phase) in them above the Curie temperature, and increased inertia of the system. The expediency of taking into account the presented results in the development of electromechanical converters based on FPCM of various degrees of ferrohardness, operated under temperature effects, including cyclic ones, was shown.