Solid state growth of Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3–BaTiO3 single crystals and their enhanced piezoelectric properties

High quality 95Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3–5BaTiO3 (NBT–5BT) single crystals of 10 mm×10 mm×3 mm in size were fabricated by the solid state single crystal growth technique involving the sintering of proportioned powder compacts in contact with a seed. Structural studies with X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the as-grown single crystals have a rhombohedral (pseudo-cubic) single phase. The (0 0 1)cubic-oriented single crystals showed excellent dielectric and piezoelectric properties: εr=723, tan δ=0.01 (1 kHz at 25 °C), d33=207 pC/N, and k33=0.5. These values are comparable to the best reported properties of melt-grown single crystals.