Temperature dependence of piezoelectric properties on Nd and V co-substituted Bi4Ti3O12 ceramics for ceramic resonator applications

The temperature dependences of the piezoelectric properties of (Bi4-yNdy)(1-(x/2))(Ti3-xVx)O-12 [BNTV-x, y (x = 0.01, y = 0.00-1.00)] were investigated for environmentally friendly lead-free piezoelectric ceramic resonators with low-temperature coefficients of resonance frequency, TC-f. The vertical bar TC-f vertical bar in the (33) mode improved with increasing concentration of modified Nd ions, y, and exhibited the smallest vertical bar TC-f vertical bar value of 77.4 ppm/degrees C at y = 0.75 (BNTV-0.75). The vertical bar TC-f vertical bar in the other vibration mode (t), was also investigated for the BNTV-0.75 ceramic, and a smaller value of 42 ppm/degrees C was obtained. The (t) mode of the BNTV-0.75 ceramic showed excellent piezoelectric properties: Q(m) = 4200, Q(e max) = 31 and TC-f = -49.8 ppm/degrees C. These properties are very similar to those of commercialized hard PZT ceramics for resonator applications. The BNTV-0.75 ceramic seems to be a superior candidate material for lead-free piezoelectric applications of ceramic resonators. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.