Rapid poling under low direct current field of [001] oriented BiFeO3-based lead-free ceramics

Abstract [001]-oriented (1-x)BiFeO3-xBaTiO3 (x = 0.2, 0.3 0.4; BF-BT) ceramics were prepared by templated grain growth (TGG) method. BaTiO3 (BT) templates existed stably in less BF ceramics, resulting in the highest orientation degree (f) of 72 % for 0.6BiFeO3-0.4BaTiO3. The BaTiO3 templates significantly improved the remanent polarization of samples, indicating that more oriented domain left after removing the electric field. Furthermore, the domain of textured 0.7BiFeO3-0.3BaTiO3 (0.7BFBT-T) switched more quickly and easily than the random one. Therefore, the poling electric field (Ep) of 0.7BFBT-T (2.5 kV/mm) was much lower than reported BF-based samples (4-5 kV/mm). Rapidly poling under low DC field of 0.7BFBT-T was observed, the d33 value of 0.7BFBT-T reached 96 % when poled at 2.5 kV/mm in 1 min.