Bi/sub 4/Ti/sub 3/O/sub 12/-based lead-free piezoelectric ceramics with grain orientation

Abstract

Piezoelectric properties of Bi/sub 4/Ti/sub 3-x/Nb/sub x/O/sub 12/ [BITN-x] and B/sub 4/Ti/sub 3-x/V/sub x/O/sub 12/ [BITV-x] ceramics are investigated. Furthermore, grain orientation effects of BITN and BITV ceramics on their piezoelectric properties are studied using the hot-forging (HF) method. The optimal sintering temperature of the BITV ceramic becomes lower with increasing the amount of doped-V ions. On the ordinarily fired (OF) sample with a random orientation, an electromechanical coupling factor, k/sub 33/ of BITN-0.08 and BITV-0.02 ceramics enhanced 0.20 and 0.25. On the HF sample, k/sub 33/ values of BITN-0.08 and BITV-0.04 ceramics enhanced the 0.39 and 0.38, respectively.