Tailored phase transition and electric properties of Pb0.99(Zr0.95Ti0.05)0.98Nb0.02O3 ferroelectric ceramics by ZnO modification.

Microstructure, phase transition and electric properties of Pb 0.99 (Zr 0.95 Ti 0.05 ) 0.98 Nb 0.02 O 3 (PZTN 95/5) ferroelectric ceramics modified with x wt% ZnO additive (where x  = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4) were systematically investigated. It was found that ZnO modification brought out an improvement of densification and an increase in grain size of PZTN 95/5 ceramics. Results of dielectric and pyroelectric measurements demonstrated that, the low temperature rhombohedral-high temperature rhombohedral ferroelectric phase transition temperature ( T LH ) gradually decreased with increasing x to 0.2, while the Curie temperature ( T c) gradually increased. With further increasing ZnO content, however, T LH and T C almost showed no change. Additionally, the excellent ferroelectric, pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties were all achieved by less than 0.2 wt% ZnO modification. It is suggested that, due to superior room–temperature pyroelectric properties, the 0.2 wt% ZnO-modified PZTN 95/5 ceramics may be a promising material for applications in uncooled pyroelectric infrared detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]