Poling effects on lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramics

Poling effects on the dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss factor, mechanical fracture mode and domain configurations of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics are investigated. The experimental results show that after poling both dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss change considerably, and the fracture mode changes from transgranular to intergranular. The domain pattern reveals that the 180° domain walls disappear in most grains and only some 90° domains remain, while X-ray diffraction shows that there is no change in the tetragonality. The results are explained on the basis of the differences in the internal stress and domain structure