Investigation on the fabrication and properties of Ce-doped PMN–PT translucent piezoelectric ceramics

Relaxor ferroelectric ceramics (1–x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–xPbTiO3 (PMN–PT) at the morphotropic phase boundary exhibit high piezoelectric and electromechanical performances. In this study, translucent 0.67PMN–0.33PT piezoelectric ceramics with various Ce doping concentrations (0, 1, 2, 2.5, and 3 mol%) were fabricated using a two-step synthesis method. All ceramics exhibited a high relative density (> 97%). The valence of Ce ions in PMN–PT ceramics and their influence on the piezoelectric, ferroelectric, dielectric, strain behavior, and luminescence properties of PMN–PT ceramics were investigated. A maximum d33 of 800 pC/N was obtained when the doping amount of Ce was 2 mol%. The maximum dielectric constant and corresponding temperature Tm decreased with the increase of Ce doping concentration, and all the dielectric loss factors were lower than 0.15. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that Ce3+ and Ce4+ coexist in PMN–PT ceramics, and Ce3+ is dominant with a low Ce doping content, which enhances the luminous intensity of Pb2+ ions.