Structure, electrical properties and temperature stability of PIN–PZN–PT piezoelectric ceramics with morphotropic phase boundary compositions

A series of Pb(In[Formula: see text]Nb[Formula: see text]O3–Pb(Zn[Formula: see text]Nb[Formula: see text]O3–PbTiO3 (PIN–PZN–PT) ternary piezoelectric ceramics with compositions at the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) were prepared. The phase structure, microstructure, electrical properties and temperature stability of PIN–PZN–PT ceramics were investigated systematically. The structural analysis indicated that an MPB phase consisting of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases was formed in all ceramics. For the selected compositions, dielectric measurements demonstrated that the Curie temperature [Formula: see text] changed from 237∘C to 295∘C and showed a strong trend of compositional dependence. All the samples showed good piezoelectic properties. Particularly, the 0.35PIN–0.40PZN–0.25PT sample has the optimum piezoelectric properties, the piezoelectric coefficient [Formula: see text] is 589 pC/N, the electromechanical coupling factors [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are 59% and 49%, respectively. Compared with PZN–PT and PMN–PT ferroelectric crystals, the superior limit of usage temperature of PIN–PZN–PT ceramics was achieved around 230∘C by thermal depoling method. These results make PIN–PZN–PT ceramics a promising material to meet the practical demands of higher temperature and larger electric field operating ranges.