Densification, crystallization, and electrical properties of lead zirconate titanate glass-ceramics.

Piezoelectric glass-ceramics in the lead zirconate titanato-lead silicate system were developed. SiO(2) was required for glass formability, and excess PbO allowed low temperature processing. The amounts of those constituents were limited by the optimization of the piezoelectric properties. Only a small region of compositions in this system yielded the desired combination of glass formability, crystallization and densification behavior, and resulting piezoelectric properties. Selected compositions were melted and roller quenched to form glass ribbon, then milled into glass powder. Pressed glass powder densified to closed porosity at 850 degrees C with piezoelectric d(33 ) and g(33) coefficients of 26 pC/N and 33x10(-3 ) Vm/N. The low temperature sintering behavior of these ferroelectric glass-ceramics provides the possibility of incorporating a piezoelectric material as a sensor or actuator in thick film circuits or low-fire multilayer packages.