Rapid formation of lead magnesium niobate-based ferroelectric ceramics via a high-energy ball milling process

Pyrochlore-free nano-sized 0.90Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃(PMN)-0.10PbTiO₃(PT) and 0.65PMN-0.35PT powders were synthesized from oxides via a high-energy ball milling process. Single perovskite phase PMN-PT were readily formed from the oxide mixture after milling for only 2 h. The grain size calculated from X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of all samples is about 20 nm, which is in agreement with the observation from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (20-50 nm). PMN-PT ceramics were obtained by sintering the milled powders at temperature from 1000 to 1100°C for 2 h. The dielectric, ferroelectric properties of the PMN-PT ceramics derived from the synthesized powders were comparable with the reported results in the literature.