Perovskite Relaxor-PbTiO3 Based Ferroelectric Ceramics
ID# 2017-4578
Technology Summary
The subject invention covers a variety of relaxor-PT ferroelectric material systems that the Penn State inventors engineered by controlling the size and volume of polar nanoregions. The inventors also utilized certain dopants to tailor the high dielectric and electromechanical properties for specific applications and provide stability. For instance, one PMN-PT composition had an enhanced dielectric constant on the order of 10000-15000, which is three to five times (3-5X) those of pure counterparts and commercial PZT5H. Such characteristics are greatly beneficial for array transducer design and electrical impedence matching.
Application & Market Utility
Piezoelectric sensors and actuators require higher piezoelectric coefficients, such as d33 >1000 pC/N. Medical imaging transducers are demanding high electromechanical coupling factors (k33 > 0.8), since bandwidth and sensitivity of transducers are closely associated with the coupling factor. Previous efforts focused on morphotropic phase boundary designs have had only limited success.
Next Steps
Further develop working prototypes of specific piezoelectric ceramic composition.