Ferroelectricity and Phase Transformations in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbZrO3 Solid Solution Ceramics

To elucidate the ferroelectricity and phase relations of the binary system of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbZrO3, solid solution ceramics having various compositions were synthesized by the conventional firing process, and their electrical and piezoelectric properties were measured as functions of composition and temperature. X-ray studies were also conducted to determine the crystal structure. As a result, the existence of the phase boundary between the normal ferroelectric and the relaxor ferroelectric states was observed, where the remanent polarization and electromechanical coupling factors showed considerable changes. Naturally, between these two ferroelectric states, marked differences in the dielectric behavior such as the temperature dependence and the dispersion were observed. In addition, lattice constants showed a slight anomaly in this boundary region.