Note: Utilizing Pb(Zr0.95Ti0.05)O3 ferroelectric ceramics to scale down autonomous explosive-driven shock-wave ferroelectric generators

Further miniaturization of recently designed autonomous ferroelectric generators (FEGs) [S. I. Shkuratov, J. Baird, and E. F. Talantsev, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 086107 (2011)], which are based on the effect of explosive-shock-wave depolarization of poled ferroelectrics is achieved. The key miniaturization factor was the utilization of high-energy density Pb(Zr(0.95)Ti(0.05))O(3) (PZT 95/5) ferroelectric ceramics as energy-carrying elements of FEGs instead of the previously used Pb(Zr(0.52)Ti(0.48))O(3) (PZT 52/48). A series of experiments demonstrated that FEGs based on smaller PZT 95/5 ferroelectric elements are capable of producing the same output voltage as those based on PZT 52/48 elements twice as large. It follows from the experimental results that the FEG output voltage is directly proportional to the thickness of PZT 95/5 samples. A comparison of the operation of FEGs based on PZT 95/5 and on PZT 52/48 ferroelectrics is presented.