Piezoelectricity and up-conversion photoluminescence of Er3+-doped Pb (Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 single crystals

Pure Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-11mol%PbTiO3 (PZN-11PT) and Er3+-doped Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-11 mol%PbTiO3 (PZN11PT-Er) relaxor ferroelectric single crystals were grown by large gradient high -temperature flux method. The phase structure, electrical properties, and up -conversion photoluminescence (UC PL) of the single crystal were studied systematically. The results show that PZN-11PT-Er has a pure perovskite structure with the coexistence of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases. The piezoelectric coefficient (d33) with the Er3+ dope increases to 1550 pC/ N from 854 pC/N than without dopant. However, the coercive electric field (EC) is maintained constant in spite that the remnant polarization (Pr) is increased from 25 mu C/cm2 to 51 mu C/cm2. The dielectric relaxation behavior of PZN-11PT was absolutely enhanced by rare Er3+-doped. In addition, UC PL was successfully achieved for PZN11PT-Er. Optical temperature sensing property of PZN-11PT-Er was studied based on the fluorescence intensity ratio technique, showing its potential for use in a wide temperature region. These results indicate that the PZN11PT-Er relaxor ferroelectric single crystals are suitable for applications in electromechanical coupling devices and optical temperature sensing, simultaneously.