RESUMO
The annealing behavior of (1-x)BiMg0.5Ti0.5O3−xBiZn0.5Ti0.5O3 [(1-x)BMT−xBZT] perovskite solid solutions synthesized under high pressure was studied in situ via X-ray diffraction and piezoresponse force microscopy. The as prepared ceramics show a morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) between the non-polar orthorhombic and ferroelectric tetragonal states at 75 mol. % BZT. It is shown that annealing above 573 K results in irreversible changes in the phase diagram. Namely, for compositions with 0.2 < x < 0.6, the initial orthorhombic phase transforms into a ferroelectric rhombohedral phase. The new MPB between the rhombohedral and tetragonal phases lies at a lower BZT content of 60 mol. %. The phase diagram of the BMT−BZT annealed ceramics is formally analogous to that of the commercial piezoelectric material lead zirconate titanate. This makes the BMT−BZT system promising for the development of environmentally friendly piezoelectric ceramics.
RESUMO
A post-synthesis thermal treatment of metastable phases in the high-pressure stabilised perovskite BiFe1-yScyO3 system results in the irreversible formation of polymorphs which represent novel polar and antipolar structures with interesting magnetic properties. Such annealing-stimulated polymorphism is believed to be a general phenomenon which can be found in other systems.