Ferroelectric and photostrictive properties of fine-grained PLZT ceramics derived from mechanical alloying

Single-phase lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) solid solution powder was synthesized from the constituent oxides at ambient temperature through a mechanical alloying (MA) process and was then densified to fine-grained ceramics by sintering and hot-pressing. The anomalous photovoltaic effect (APV) and photoinduced strain of the resultant PLZT ceramics were investigated and analyzed in association with the influence of grain size. It was found that a photoinduced voltage up to 6000 V(.)cm(-1) can be obtained as the grain size is reduced to 0.42 mum. This is extremely high and about three times that achievable in normal micrometer-grained PLZT ceramics. The maximum photoinduced strain of the PLZT ceramics with an average gain diameter of 0.54 mum reached 0.01%, which is equivalent to electric-field-induced strain of common piezoelectric materials.