Using the methods of radiospectroscopy (EPR, NMR) to study the nature of the defect structure of solid solutions based on lead zirconate titanate (PZT)

The nature of intrinsic and impurity point defects in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics has been explored. Using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods, several impurity sites have been identified in the materials, including the Fe³⁺-oxygen vacancy (VO) complex and Pb ions. Both of these centers are incorporated into the PZT lattice. The Fe³⁺-V paramagnetic complex serves as a sensitive probe of the local crystal field in the ceramic; the symmetry of this defect roughly correlates with PZT phase diagram as the composition is varied from PbTiO₃ to PbZrO₃. NMR spectra ²⁰⁷Pb in PbTiO₃, PbZrO₃, and PZT with iron content from 0 to 0.4 wt% showed that increasing the iron concentration leads to a distortion of the crystal structure and to improvement of the electrophysical parameters of the piezoceramics. This is due to the formation of a phase which has a higher symmetry, but at high concentrations of iron (>0.4 wt%), it leads to sharp degradation of electrophysical parameters.