The effect of Zr content on the thermal stability, dielectric and pyroelectric behavior for lead zirconate prepared by tartrate precursor method

The series of lead titanate with various concentration of zirconium PbZr x Ti 1− x O 3 (PZTO), where ( x = 0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8), have been prepared successfully by tartrate precursor method and then annealed at 1273 K in atmospheric pressure. The results showed that PZTO samples with varying composition ( x ) have highly phase purity and crystallized perovskite structure without pyrochlore phase in every composition. The grains of prepared samples are densely packed with few pores and the grain size increases with Zr content. The results showed also the thermal stability of PbZr 0.8 Ti 0.2 O 3 sample is higher remarkably compared to other samples with lower Zr concentration which is enhanced remarkably with Zr content. The DC resistivity and dielectric behaviors indicate that the phase transition in all the samples is diffused type. It is observed that saturation polarization and coercive field have increased with high Zr content samples ( x = 0.4 and 0.8). On the contrary, the remanent polarization has decreased slightly with high Zr content samples. Furthermore, there is a remarkable enhancement of the pyroelectric voltage for PZTO with high Zr content samples ( x = 0.4 and 0.8). Therefore, it is recommended that these prepared samples are preferable for use in pyroelectric detector applications such as infrared sensors, infrared thermometers, and laser energy sensors.