High-Power Piezoelectric Characteristics of Nontextured Bismuth Layer-Structured Ferroelectric Ceramics

High-power piezoelectric characteristics under continuous driving were studied on some bismuth layer-structured ferroelectric ceramics, i.e., Sr0.25Bi2.75Ti0.75Ta1.25O9 (SBTT, m = 2), Bi4Ti2.98V0.02O12 (BITV, m = 3), Bi4Ti3O12-SrBi4Ti4O15 + MnCO3 0.2 wt% (BIT-SBTi, m = 3, 4), and (Sr0.7Ca0.3)(2)Bi4Ti5O18 + MnCO3 0.2 wt% (SCBT, m = 5). The vibration velocities, v(0-p), of SBTT, BIT-SBTi, and SCBT ceramics were above 2.0 m/s at 5 V/mm. Also, we observed that the resonance frequency changes and temperatures on the sample surfaces for SBTT, BIT-SBTi, and SCBT ceramics were less than 1.0% and 50 degrees C at a v(0-p) of 2.0 m/s, respectively. The high-power characteristics of the ceramics were superior to those of BITV and hard Pb(Zr, Ti)O-3 (abbreviated as PZT) at a vibration velocity v(0-p) > 0.6 m/s. Therefore, SBTT, BIT-SBTi and SCBT ceramics are promising candidates for lead-free high-power applications requiring high vibration velocity and frequency stability. (C) 2011 The Japan Society of Applied Physics