Solid-solution structure and piezoelectric property of KNbO3 ceramics doped with small amounts of elements

The origin of the improvement of the ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of KNbO3 ceramics by the addition of small amounts of La and Fe has been investigated. The La/Fe-codoped KNbO3 ceramics formed a single (K1-xLax)(Nb1-xFex)O-3 solid solution, and their unit-cell volume decreased significantly with an x of 0.002 mol, while they recovered at x = 0.004. In this region, the lattice parameters of the a-b basal plane decreased and the elongation in the c direction toward apical oxygen in NbO6 octahedra occurred. These results were correlated with the enhanced polarization and piezoelectric properties measured for the x = 0.002 specimen. The x = 0.002 specimen demonstrated a k(t) of 0.48 which corresponds to approximately 70% of the k(t) value predicted for a KNbO3 single crystal as its maximized property. Furthermore, La/Fe-codoped KNbO3 ceramics with MnO2 addition were prepared to observe the effect of multivalent ion (Fe and Mn) doping into the KNbO3 structure on the properties. Synchrotron near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES) study revealed a mixture of kedge spectra consisting of Mn4+/Mn3+/Mn2+, while Fe3+ maintained its valence state. The influence of valence fluctuation on the ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of KNbO3 ceramics was discussed.