Sluggish Pansition Between Tetragonal and Rhombohedral Phases of Pb(Zr,Ti)0 ₃ Prepared by Application of Electric Field

Abstract

Tetragonal and rhombohedral phases always coexist in Pb(Zr x Til 1−x )0 3 near the morphotropic phase boundary compositions (0.52≤x≤0.55) when prepared by solid‐solid reaction among the constituent oxides. A special technique was developed to obtain perovskite ceramics exhibiting no co‐existence in the boundary compositions, in which no compositional fluctuation occurred in the B site of the perovskite structure. Even these monophasic perovskite ceramics of the morphotropic phase boundary compositions were two‐phase with the lapse of time after poling. This phenomenon is interpreted in terms of thermodynamics. It is suggested that this phenomenon may closely relate to the origin of aging in piezoelectrics.