Ultra-low hysteresis electric field-induced strain with high electrostrictive coefficient in lead-free Ba(ZrxTi1-x)O3 ferroelectrics

Abstract From the application point of view, high electric field-induced strain with ultra-low hysteresis or hysteresis-free characteristic is highly desired in high-precision displacement actuators. In this work, lead-free Ba(Zr x Ti 1- x )O 3 (BZT) ferroelectrics with x in the range between 0.02 and 0.1 were fabricated by a conventional solid state reaction method. The structural evolution and electrical properties were investigated systematically with an emphasis on electrostrictive effect. As x increases from 0.02 to 0.1, the crystal lattice parameters ( a and c axes) increase while the tetragonality ( c / a -1) goes down. In addition, the Curie temperature ( T C ) of BZT decreases gradually, while the temperatures corresponding to tetragonal-to-orthorhombic (T-O) and orthorhombic-to-rhombohedral (O-R) phase transitions increase. Ultra-low hysteresis ( 0.15% at 60 kV/cm) are observed in all studied compositions. Most importantly, a high longitudinal electrostrictive coefficient Q 33 (0.0453 m 4 /C 2 ) was also identified in x  = 0.1 composition. This work not only reports high electric field-induced strains with ultra-low hysteresis and high Q 33 in lead-free BZT ferroelectrics, but also indicates a potential application for BZT ceramics in high-precision displacement actuators.