Investigation of dielectric and piezoelectric properties in aliovalent Eu 3+ ‐modified Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 ‐PbTiO 3 ceramics

Rare earth (Eu 3+ )‐modified Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 ‐PbTiO 3 (PMN‐PT) polycrystalline ferroelectric ceramics were fabricated by high‐temperature solid‐state sintering, the phase structure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties were investigated. Eu 3+ addition was found to significantly improve dielectric and piezoelectric properties of PMN‐PT, where the optimized properties were achieved for the composition of 2.5 mol%Eu: 0.72PMN‐0.28PT, with the piezoelectric d 33 = 1420 pC/N, dielectric ε r = 12 200 and electromechanical k 33 = 0.78, respectively. All these results indicate that the Eu 3+ ‐doped PMN‐PT ceramics are promising candidates for high‐performance room‐temperature piezoelectric devices.