Identification number: lzp-2023/1-0571
Type: Latvian Council of Science Fundamental and Applied Research project
Duration: 01.01.2024.-31.12.2026.
Project Leader: Reinis Ignatāns, Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia
Project implemented by: Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (ISSP UL)
Science sector: Engineering
Funding: 299 871 EUR
Project description:
Piezoelectric materials are used in everything from medical ultrasound to such common applications as spark generators for cigarette lighters. Most of the best piezoelectric materials are lead-based (for example, the famous Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 or PZT system). However, since ~ 2000, the European Union has adopted the so-called RoHs directive, which restricts the use of harmful elements in goods (since the best piezoelectrics contain lead, this directive applies to them). But PZT and its derivatives have always been exempted from the RoHs directive, because lead-free materials with such high-class properties have not yet been developed. In 2022, a new way was found to obtain piezoelectric properties in materials by inducing them with a static electric field. Surprisingly, this effect is an order of magnitude or two larger than in conventional piezoelectric materials (PZT), but the effect is pronounced only at low frequencies of the conducting field. Currently, the origin of the induced piezoelectric effect is attributed to mobile charged defects that move under the influence of an external electric field, but direct evidence for this hypothesis is not yet available. In this study, we will shed light on the physical mechanisms responsible for the recently discovered, large induced piezoelectric effect. To do this, we will set up complex in situ/in operando experiments and apply several chemical synthesis strategies that will allow us to confirm or refute the current hypotheses about the origin of the induced piezoelectric effect.