Ferroelectric and Photostrictive Properties of Fine‐Grained PLZT Ceramics Derived from Mechanical Alloying

Single‐phase lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) solid solution powder was synthesized from the constituent oxides at ambient temperature through a mechanical alloying (MA) process and was then densified to fine‐grained ceramics by sintering and hot‐pressing. The anomalous photovoltaic effect (APV) and photoinduced strain of the resultant PLZT ceramics were investigated and analyzed in association with the influence of grain size. It was found that a photoinduced voltage up to 6000 V·cm −1 can be obtained as the grain size is reduced to 0.42 μm. This is extremely high and about three times that achievable in normal micrometer‐grained PLZT ceramics. The maximum photoinduced strain of the PLZT ceramics with an average grain diameter of 0.54 μm reached 0.01%, which is equivalent to electric‐field‐induced strain of common piezoelectric materials.