Preparation of lead lanthanum zirconate titanate stannate ceramics by partial chemical method and its electric field induced strain properties

A partial chemical method was developed for the synthesis of PbNb (Zr,Sn,Ti)O3 antiferroelectric ceramics. Single perovskite phase was formed in the precursor calcined at 600°C for 2 h and a submicron particle size distribution of calcined powder was achieved by planetary ball milling. Average grain size about 4 μm and relative density greater than 97% were obtained from samples prepared by a tape-casting method and sintered at 1100°C for 4 h. In samples with composition of Pb0.99Nb0.02[(Zr0.6Sn0.4)1-yTiy]0.98O3, there shows an increase of dielectric constant and a trend of transition from antiferroelectric state to ferroelectric state with the increase of Ti content. A strain curve with maximum longitude strain of 0.33% under 6 kV/mm electric field was measured from samples with composition of y=0.06.