Experimental investigation on the hysteresis phenomenon and the photostrictive effect of PLZT with coupled multi-physics fields

Lead lanthanum zirconate (PLZT) ceramic has been widely studied as an opto-electromechanical actuator activated by ultraviolet light for active vibration control of various structures. However, the slow response time of photodeformation and the hysteresis phenomenon between the photovoltage and photo-induced deformation greatly affect the performance of PLZT as an actuator. The primary purposes of this article are to provide a comprehensive analysis on the hysteresis phenomenon and seek the reason of the hysteresis phenomenon with the experimental method. To this end, this study proposed the hysteresis phenomenon by photostrictive static experiments and investigated the possible influence factors on the hysteresis phenomenon through a series of experiments. The experimental results indicate that the temperature elevation of PLZT ceramic subjected to light illumination plays a significant role in the hysteresis phenomenon. Therefore, reducing the temperature rise of PLZT ceramic exposed to ultraviolet light is an effective means to eliminate the hysteresis phenomenon and improve the respond speed of photo-induced deformation.