Temperature dependent structural and dielectric investigations of PbZr0.5Ti0.5O3 solid solution at the morphotropic phase boundary

PbZr1−xTixO3 ceramics synthesised by low temperature calcination followed by sintering at 1280°C show a Morphotropic Phase Boundary (MPB) for compositions of x=0.44–0.51. The morphotropic phase boundary is wider for samples with smaller grain sizes due to the synthesis route. A Rietveld analysis is performed on a composition of x=0.5 composition to quantify the phase fractions of the tetragonal and monoclinic phases present in the PZT system. Temperature dependent X-ray diffraction and dielectric studies of PbZr0.5Ti0.5O3 composition demonstrated a phase transformation from monoclinic to tetragonal at 270°C followed by a ferroelectric tetragonal to a paraelectric cubic transition at 370°C. Thus, the poling of these ceramics should be performed below 270°C to benefit from the presence of a monoclinic phase.