We have shown that by enlarging the nonpolar phase in BNTbased
piezoelectric ceramics by doping with Nd we are able to
obtain a ceramic material with low intrinsic losses, low remnant
polarization and a temperature independent strain in the desired
operating temperature range.
Furthermore we have demonstrated the processing of a
multi-layer device with a water based route using Ag/Pd inner
electrodes. SEM images prove that the inner electrodes do
not exhibit any delaminating, and there is no indication of
a bismuth–palladium reaction. The actuator dimensions were
7mm×7mm×2mm containing 50 active layers with approximately
35 m layer thickness. The obtained strain at a field of
7 kV/mm gained the value of 0.19% with a variation of ±10%
in the temperature range between 25 ◦C and 150 ◦C.