Synthesis and structural, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of SrBi4Ti4O15 ceramics

SrBi4Ti4O15 ceramics were prepared via ordinary firing (OF) and hot forging (HF). Characterization using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry shows platelike grains that were highly oriented (F = 0.95) after hot forging. Ferroelectric, dielectric, and piezoelectric characterizations revealed that polarization reorientation was restricted to the ab plane of the orthorhombic structure, parallel to the (Bi2O2)(2+) layers. The thickness coupling factor for OF samples was only half that for HF samples oriented parallel to the HF direction (in the ab-plane), as a consequence of poling restrictions in randomly oriented grains.