American Institute of Physics, Journal of Applied Physics, 11(116), p. 114102, 2014
DOI: 10.1063/1.4895774
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Electrical poling is indispensable for endowing isotropic ferroelectric polycrystals with a net macroscopic polarization and hence piezoelectricity. However, little attention has been paid to the optimization of poling conditions in (K, Na)NbO3-based ceramics with a polymorphic phase transition. This study investigated the electrical properties of CaZrO3-modified (K, Na, Li)(Nb, Ta)O3 lead-free piezoceramics as a function of the poling temperature. Peak piezoelectric coefficient d33 of 352 ± 7 pC/N and planar electromechanical coupling factor kp of 0.47 were obtained at the optimized poling temperature of 120 °C, which crosses the polymorphic phase transition regime. In-depth analysis of the asymmetric polarization hysteresis loops and bipolar strain curves uncovered striking analogy between electrical poling and unipolar cycling in the current system, which is attributed to a competition between domain reorientation and space charge accumulation.