Bleizirkonattitanat

BleiZirkonatTitanat, commonly known as lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr1−xTi x)O3, or PZT), is a piezoelectric ceramic from the perovskite family. It forms a solid solution of lead zirconate and lead titanate and exhibits ferroelectricity and strong piezoelectric response. PZT is widely used in actuators, sensors and transducers.

The highest piezoelectric performance occurs near the morphotropic phase boundary, around x ≈ 0.52, where rhombohedral and tetragonal phases coexist. Small compositional changes produce large increases in piezoelectric coefficients. Doping with donors or acceptors (soft or hard PZT) modifies aging, coercive field and mechanical quality.

Manufacturing typically involves solid-state synthesis, calcination, pressing, and sintering to produce dense ceramics, followed by poling to align ferroelectric domains. The material can also be used in multilayer actuators. Variants with dopants produce a range of temperature stability, permittivity, and electromechanical coupling.

Key properties include a high dielectric constant and large piezoelectric coefficients, with Curie temperatures ranging from a few hundred degrees Celsius depending on composition. Because lead is a component, PZT is subject to environmental regulations and ongoing development of lead-free alternatives.

Applications cover consumer electronics, industrial sensors, ultrasonic transducers, medical devices, and precision actuators. PZT components are common in multilayer ceramic capacitors, scanning and imaging systems, and hobbyist actuators. Ongoing research focuses on improving temperature stability, reducing aging, and exploring lead-free piezoelectric materials.

First commercialized in the mid-20th century by researchers including Jaffe, Cook and Ezell, PZT quickly became a standard piezoelectric ceramic due to its strong, tunable properties and manufacturability.