Effect of excess PbO and sintering temperature on the templated grain growth of Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.67Ti _0.33O₃ polycrystals

The effect of excess lead oxide and sintering temperature on the microstructure evolution in the templated grain growth (TGG) of the Pb(Mg _1/3Nb_{2/ 3})_0.67Ti_0.33O₃ (PMNT67/33) polycrystals was investigated. By adding excess PbO in the precursor of PMNT ceramics, the textured structure of PMNT polycrystals was obtained near SrTiO₃ (ST) template by the conventional ceramic technique. The texture profiles developed progressively with increasing the concentration of excess PbO. A suitable sintering temperature is also very essential to grow a thick textured layer and avoid a second phase. Furthermore, the through-thickness of the PMNT textured layer is strongly influenced by the uniaxial compact-pressure of preparing the ST seeded PMNT specimen.