Piezoelectric Ceramics in the PbSnO 3 –Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 –PbTiO 3 Ternary System

Piezoelectric ceramics in the ternary system (0.8− x ) PbSnO 3 –0.2 Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 – x PbTiO 3 ( PSn–PMN–PT , x = 0.42–0.47) were synthesized. Morphotropic phase boundary ( MPB ) compositions, located at ~ PT = 0.43–0.45 were confirmed by X‐ray diffraction, dielectric, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric properties. The coercive field E C , internal bias field E i, and mechanical quality factor Q m were found to increase with increasing PT content, indicative of piezoelectric “hardening” characteristics, while the optimum dielectric and piezoelectric properties were achieved for the MPB composition 0.36PSn–0.2PMN–0.44PT , with dielectric permittivity ε r , piezoelectric coefficient d 33, and planar electromechanical coupling k p being on the order of 2930, 510 pC/N and 55%, respectively. In addition, the aging behavior of the piezoelectric ceramics was studied, with aging rate of d 33 ~−6%, k p ~−2%, ε r ~−7% per decade, respectively, similar to commercial PZT4 ceramics.