Piezoelectric materials with high vibrational velocities are desired for high-power applications. We doped La2O3 into 0.98 [0.4PbZrO3-0.42PbTiO3-0.12Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.06Pb(Sn1/3Nb2/3)O3]-0.02YMnO3 piezoelectric ceramics in order to enhance their vibrational velocities. Dissolving the La2O3 into the ceramics changed their crystal structures and material properties. However, when a La2O3 content of over 10 mol% was used, XRD data showed that some of the La2O3 precipitated. A 4 mol% La2O3-doped ceramic had a phase transition temperature of 278 oC and a vibrational velocity of 0.73 m/s (for a 20 oC temperature rise). Compared with the vibrational velocities of current hard PZT ceramics, which are in the range of 0.4 to 0.6 m/s, this large vibrational velocity will be promising for high-power piezoelectric applications.

Keywords: Vibrational velocity, Doping, Piezoelectric ceramics, High power.