Large electrostrictive effect and strong photoluminescence in rare-earth modified lead-free (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-based piezoelectric ceramics

In this work, we designed a new multifunctional material with the composition of BNBT7 − xRE (RE = Sm, Pr and Eu), which integrating the luminescence and electrostrictive properties. The RE-modified BNBT7 materials show a high, purely electrostrictive effect with exceptionally good temperature-independent and fatigue-free behavior. Meanwhile, these materials are attractive for their strong photoluminescence with bright reddish-orange emission (RE = Sm) or red emission (RE = Pr, Eu) upon blue or green light excitation. It is believed that studied system may act as a potentially multifunctional optical-electro material owing to its excellent luminescence and electrostrictive properties.360