Polarization Fatigue Mechanism of High-Power Textured Piezoelectric Ceramics

In conjunction with ultrahigh d(33) and Q(m), the electrical fatigue behavior of high-power piezoelectric ceramics is highly relevant for practical applications. In this study, a comparative study of fatigue behavior between randomly oriented and < 001 > textured ceramics is investigated. It is found that < 001 > textured ceramics exhibit better fatigue resistance behavior in comparison with the random counterpart. The superior fatigue resistance of textured ceramics originates from its smaller domain size with high domain wall density, favorable domain wall switching, and internal stress relaxation during the electric field cycling process. Both mechanical damage and domain wall pinning mechanisms are found to play an important role in influencing the fatigue behavior of high-power textured ceramics. Detailed microstructural analysis along with electrical fatigue measurement under bipolar and unipolar modes is conducted to confirm the mechanisms controlling the degradation as a function of varying fields and temperatures. High-resolution electron microscopy results demonstrate that BaTiO3 (BT) templates present within the textured ceramics do not induce mechanical damage during electric field cycling.