Oxygen-Atmosphere Firing of Piezoelectric Lead Zirconate Titanate Ceramics Substituted with Lead Antimonate Niobate Having Submicron Particle Sizes

Piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) partially substituted with Pb(Sb, Nb)O3 was used to obtain piezoelectric ceramics having high piezoelectricity and fine grains. Furthermore, the calcined powder was ground to submicron sizes and fired in oxygen atmosphere. Densification was promoted by this method, and dense ceramics were consequently obtained at low firing temperatures. Thus, it was clarified that oxygen-atmosphere firing of submicron-size powder was effective in obtaining piezoelectric ceramics with submicron-size grains.