Controlled Oxygen Partial Pressure Sintering of (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O ₃ Ceramics

Transparent PLZT(7/60/40) ceramics with large piezoelectric coefficients were obtained using a two‐step sintering process with controlled oxygen partial pressure. Specifically, low‐oxygen‐pressure and low‐temperature sintering were used in the first step, followed by a high‐oxygen‐pressure, high‐temperature sintering cycle. High‐density ceramics with small grain sizes of about 3 µm were prepared. As a result, k p = 0.71, k 33 = 0.78, d 33 = 850 × 10 ‐12 C/N, and a transparency of 15% (λ= 610 nm, thickness of 1 mm) have been achieved; 20% improvement of d 33 was gained compared to conventional processed PLZT ceramics ( d 33 = 710 × 10 ‐12 C/N).