Piezo Materials and Properties
Most of our products are manufactured using high performance
5A and 5H type piezoelectric materials
CHAPTER 1

Piezo Material Overview

Differences between 5A, 5J, & 5H
PSI-5A4E

PSI-5A4E is an industry type 5A (Navy Type II) piezoceramic. Thin vacuum sputtered nickel electrodes produce extremely low current leakage and low magnetic permeability. It operates over a wide temperature range and is relatively temperature insensitive.

When an electric field having the same polarity and orientation as the original polarization field is placed across the thickness of a single sheet of piezoceramic, the piece expands along the axis of polarization (thickness direction) and contracts perpendicular to the axis of polarization (length and width direction). The motion in the thickness direction is on the order of tens of nanometers. Motion in the length direction is typically on the order of microns or tens of microns.

Overview of 5A

    DOD Type II, Lead-Zirconate Titanate
  • High strain (charge) constants, permittivity, and coupling constants
  • Low mechanical quality factor
  • High Curie temperature extends its temperature range and thermal stability
  • High charge output useful for sensing devices and generator elements
  • High strain output useful for large displacements at modest voltages
  • Used for sensing (receivers, knock, acoustic, musical pick-ups, vibration, vortex, material testing)
  • Used for actuators (valves, positioning, vibrating, AFM, fans, tilters)
PSI-5H4E

PSI-5H4E is an industry type 5H (Navy Type VI) piezoceramic. Thin vacuum sputtered nickel electrodes produce extremely low current leakage and low magnetic permeability. It has high motion per volt sensitivity but its upper temperature range is limited and its properties are more sensitive to temperature.

When an electric field having the same polarity and orientation as the original polarization field is placed across the thickness of a single sheet of piezoceramic, the piece expands along the axis of polarization (thickness direction) and contracts perpendicular to the axis of polarization (length and width direction). The motion in the thickness direction is on the order of tens of nanometers. Motion in the length direction is typically on the order of microns or tens of microns.

Overview of 5H

  • DOD Type VI, Lead-Zirconate Titanate
  • Very high strain (charge) constants, permittivity, and coupling constants
  • Modest Curie temperature restricts its temperature range and thermal stability
  • Low mechanical quality factor
  • High charge output useful for sensing devices and generator elements
  • High strain output useful for large displacements at lower voltages
  • Used for sensing (receivers, knock, hydrophones, pick-ups, medical diagnostics)
  • Used for actuators (valves, positioning, fans, tilters)
PSI-5J1E

PSI-5J1E is an industry type 5J (Navy Type V) piezoceramic. Thin vacuum sputtered silver electrodes produce extremely low current leakage and low magnetic permeability. This material provides a compromise between PZT 5A and 5H.

Single Crystal Piezo

Single Crystal PMN-PT is an electromechanically active crystal which has a combination of piezoelectric and electrostrictive properties resulting in superior electromechanical conversion properties. Unlike our familiar piezos which are created as sintered blocks of ceramic, PMN-PT starts life as a large pure crystal artificially grown slowly out of a melt. It is inherently different that piezoceramic both in application and in handling, and therefore should not be thought of as a 'drop in' replacement of piezoceramic parts, but rather as 'ground up' design option for applications requiring higher energy density than possible with piezoceramics.

CHAPTER 2
Piezoceramic Properties
Values to used as guidelines
PIEZO.COM'S Designation Symbol Units PSI-5A4E PSI-5J1E PSI-5H4E SINGLE CRYSTAL PIEZO   
PIEZOELECTRIC
Industry Designations Navy type II; Industry Type 5A Navy type V; Industry Type 5J Navy type VI; Industry Type 5H PMN-PT
Composition Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT)
Relative Dielectric Constant   (@ 1 KHz) KT3 1800 2100 3800 4753
Piezoelectric "d" coefficients relate the Strain Produced / Electric Field Applied   or   the Short Circuit Charge Density Produced / Stress Applied
d33 meter/Volt   or
Coulomb/Newton
390 x 10-12 500 x 10-12 650 x 10-12 1285-12 pC/N
d31 meter/Volt   or
Coulomb/Newton
-190 x 10-12 -210 x 10-12 -320 x 10-12 -646-12  pC/N
Piezoelectric "g" coefficients relate the Open Circuit Electric Field Produced / Stress Applied   or   the Strain Produced / Charge Density Applied
g33 Volt-meter/Newton   or
meter2/Coulomb
24.0 x 10-3 23.0 x 10-3 19.0 x 10-3 30.55-3 Vm/N
g31 Volt-meter/Newton   or
meter2/Coulomb
-11.6 x 10-3 -10.4 x 10-3 -9.5 x 10-3 -15.36-3 Vm/N
Coupling Coefficient k33 0.72 0.74 0.75 0.89
k31 0.35 0.37 0.44 0.46
Polarizing Field Ep Volt/meter > 2 x 106 > 1.7 x 106 > 1.5 x 106
Initial Depolarizing Field Ec Volt/meter ~ 5 x 105 ~ 4 x 105 ~ 3 x 105
Coercive Field Ec Volt/meter ~ 1.2 x 106 ~ 1.0 x 106 ~ 8 x 105 4.5-6 kV/cm
MECHANICAL
Density δ Kg/meter3 7800 7800 7800 8.12 g/cc
Mechanical Q 80 60 32 ~150
Elastic Modulus YE3 Newton/meter2 5.2 x 1010 5.1 x 1010 5.0 x 1010 2.0410 N/m2
YE1 Newton/meter2 6.6 x 1010 6.4 x 1010 6.2 x 1010 2.1810 N/m2
THERMAL
Thermal Expansion Coefficient meter/meter °C ~ 4 x 10-6 ~ 4 x 10-6 ~ 3 x 10-6 ~10-6/°C
Curie Temperature °C 350 320 230 140-170°C
CHAPTER 3
Typical Thermal Dependence of
Piezoelectric Properties
Thermal Dependence of Piezoelectric Properties
Figure 1: Typical Thermal Dependence of Piezoelectric Properties
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