Growth and piezoelectric properties of ferroelectric mono-domain crystals

A mono-domain crystal of Bismuth tungstate Bi2WO6, one of the bismuth layered structure ferroelectric (BLSF) compounds, is synthesized by a slow cooling method using lithium tetra-borate as the flux below the Curie temperature of 940 °C. Fifteen of seventeen independent tensor components of dielectric constant ε i j / ε 0 , piezoelectric constant d i j and elastic compliance s i j are determined. The dielectric constants, ε i j / ε 0 , were about 100, 70 and 70 for i j = 11 , 22 and 33 and the piezoelectric constants, d 31 and d 33 were −17 and 27 pC/N, respectively. These characteristics are consistent with those of BLSF grain-oriented ceramics. The resonance response revealed that the BWO crystals maintained the piezoelectricity up to 400 °C.