Improved stability for piezoelectric crystals grown in the lead indium niobate–lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate system

Higher coercive fields (EC) and depoling temperatures (TR∕T) were obtained for crystals in the Pb(In1∕2Nb1∕2)O3–Pb(Mg1∕3Nb2∕3)O3–PbTiO3 (PIN–PMN–PT) ternary system. Data are given for a crystal boule with starting composition 0.24PIN-0.44PMN-0.32PT, and with chemical distributions along the growth direction. The dielectric, piezoelectric, and elastic properties were determined. Similar to binary PMN–PT, ternary PIN–PMN–PT crystals have outstanding piezoelectric properties (e.g., d33∼900–1900pm∕V, k33∼0.83–0.92). In addition, PIN stabilizes piezoelectric performance by doubling EC (∼6kV∕cm) and increasing TR∕T by ∼20°C. These improvements are advantageous for acoustic transducers used in high-drive applications.