Pressure stabilization and piezoelectric properties of polycrystalline perovskite PbZn[sub 1/3]Nb[sub 2/3]O[sub 3]-PbTiO[sub 3].

By using high-pressure heat treatment, we synthesized the single perovskite phase of polycrystalline (1-x)PbZn[sub 1/3]Nb[sub 2/3]O[sub 3]-xPbTiO[sub 3] which was reported to show giant piezoelectricity in crystal forms. Piezoelectric constant of the polycrystalline materials at room temperature was found to become maximum at the rhombohedral side (x=8%) of morphotropic phase boundary. Microscopic strain under the electric field (E) along different crystallographic directions was identified by observing the x-ray Bragg peak shift of polycrystalline samples with E. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]