Production and properties of doped PSN electro-optical ceramics

Due to multifunctionality the transparent ferroelectric ceramics is attractive to solid state chemistry and physics as a promising material for active electro-optic elements. To study doping effects on the technological processing and properties, ceramic samples of Pb1-xZxSc1/2Nb1/2O3, have been prepared, where Z: (1) Ba (0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 1), (2) rare-earth elements: Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu (x equals 0.1), (3) PbSc1/2Nb1/2O3 doped with 5 wt.% of rare-earth oxides. Ceramic characteristics, dielectric and electro-optical parameters have been measured. Differential thermal analysis (DTA), and x-ray diffraction are used to study the infl…