Letter: Fabrication of pyrochlore-free PMN-PT thick films by electrophoretic deposition

Lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (0.80Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.20PbTiO3, PMN-PT) 16-mum thick films on platinum metallic foils were successfully fabricated by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The EPD process was conducted in ethanol medium with pH 6.0. The effects of deposition parameters, such as deposition voltage and deposition time were evaluated. Single-phase PMN-PT thick-film structures without any pyrochlore phase were obtained after the sintering at 1100 deg C for 1 h. Relaxor-like behaviour was clearly demonstrated in PMN-PT thick films. The room temperature relative dielectric constant and the maximum relative dielectric constant were 4800 and 26100 (at 1 kHz), respectively, which are comparable to the reported values for bulk samples.