Improved piezoelectricity and luminescence behavior in Er2O3 doped (K,Na)NbO3 ceramics

Er2O3 doped (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN) ceramics with the composition around the morphotropic phase boundary was synthesized by the conventional solid state reaction. Compared to pure KNN ceramics, KNN doped Er3+ ceramics exhibited enhanced ferroelectric, piezoelectric properties owing to the donor doping effect. And the maximum value of d33=132 pC/N and kp=0.44 were obtained for the ceramics with the addition of 0.5 mol% Er2O3. Meantime, the intensity of absorb spectra and photoluminescence were obviously enhanced in this kind of sample owing to the lattice distortion induced by the polarization reorientation during poling process. The present work indicated the proposed system exhibited potential application in multifunctional integration device.