Piezoelectric and electrostrictive strain behavior of Ce-doped BaTiO3 ceramics

The ferroelectric and strain behavior of the Ba(Ti12yCey)O3 solid solutions was studied. Three phase transition temperatures were shifted with increasing Ce concentration, and pinched at y 50.06. The samples could be structurally indexed by x-ray diffraction in a tetragonal symmetry at y<0.06; and in a pseudo-cubic symmetry at y.0.06. The strain levels in the range of 0.15–0.19% at ;60 kV/cm with small hysteresis were obtained for the samples with low content Ce. With increasing Ce concentration, the tetragonality decreases, the strain level decreases, and becomes less hysteretic. The physical mechanism of the electrostrictive, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric-relaxor behavior is briefly discussed. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. @DOI: 10.1063/1.1473871#