Regulation of domain wall motion in PZT-based ceramics through the introduction of local stress fields

At present, a big challenge exists yet in the piezoelectric ceramic material that high piezoelectric performance and low losses (large Qm and low tanδ) are difficult to achieve concurrently due to the effects of domain switching and domain wall motion on electromechanical properties. In this work, by introducing secondary-phase particles (SnO2 particles) into the hard PZT matrix, we successfully build local stress fields in the ceramic. These local stress fields not only pin the domain and domain wall but also diminish the domain size and increase the domain wall density. The former is in favor of reducing the losses, while the latter is beneficial to promoting the piezoelectric properties. Thus, the optimized piezoelectric properties and losses in the ceramic can be obtained simultaneously. The results show that in the PZT/0.3 wt%SnO2 composite, the mechanical quality factor reaches 2800 and the dielectric loss is only 0.4 %, which are superior to the hard PZT matrix. Meanwhile, the composite ceramic has a high piezoelectric constant of 390 pC/N. These excellent properties will push the development of next-generation high-power electromechanical devices.