SBIR Phase I: Texturing of High Curie Temperatures (Tc) Piezoelectrics by Templated Grain Growth

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project will lead to the fabrication process of Bismuth Scantanate-Lead Titanate(BiScO3-PbTiO3) ceramics with a textured microstructure to yield materials with very large piezoelectric properties over a broad temperature range. In the case of existing ceramics, the piezoelectric properties are too low for these applications while recently discovered single crystal materials suffer from low Curie temperature and high manufacturing costs. The objective of this research is to develop textured ceramics from the BiScO3-PbTiO3 system. These materials have been shown to possess a very high Curie temperature (Tc. >450 C) and high piezoelectric properties suitable for meeting the needs of emerging sensor, transducer, and actuator applications. The templated grain growth method will be used as a means of texturing microstructure to produce polycrystalline ceramics with properties close to those of single crystal. Commercially, piezoelectric ceramics and single crystals are tantalizingly close to enabling a broad range of advanced applications including vibration sensors with sensitivity at the theoretical limit, two-dimensional ultrasound phased arrays for three dimensional volumetric imaging, and high authority actuators for smart structures (vibration control and surface morphing). This program will lead to highly piezoelectrically active material produced at nearly the same cost as existing ceramic compositions.