Towards industrial applications of single-sample characterisation for piezoelectric materials

Fotouhi, Sakineh; Alexandrou, Anna; Zhang, Zhen; Liu, Bo; Cochran, Sandy

Abstract

The simulation of devices implemented with piezoelectric materials is often a challenge due to the need for characterisation of the materials. The only standard approach (IEEE) which can produce a full elastopiezodielectric matrix, requires multiple samples. This leads to difficulty in preparing samples for a set of isolated modes, resulting in incomplete property characterisation and significant expense.
An alternative approach is to use a single sample, performed by combining resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) with electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and applying optimisation. However, a typical sample needed for this method has a high thickness of piezoelectric material, as well as requiring complex equipment and advanced measurement skills.
The present work explores how the single-sample characterisation method can be simplified by miniaturising the sample and relying on only a single EIS measurement. It is implemented with cyclic finite element analyses (FEA) and optimisation using OnScale FEA (Atlanta, GA, USA) and MATLAB (The Mathworks, Cambridge, UK) to match experimental measurements. Initial verification has been conducted on PZT-4 and PZT-8 materials.
The next phase aims to extend the application of this single-sample characterisation technique in collaboration with CeramTec UK (Ruabon, UK) an international supplier of piezoelectric materials. This will include investigating a key challenge associated with the proposed method—namely, the effect of sample size on damping parameters. Different sample sizes (1 to 10 mm³) provided by CeramTec UK are currently being studied.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Abstract
• Conference Name: Ferroelectrics UK and Ireland 2025
• Start Date: May 1, 2025
• End Date: Apr 2, 2025
• Acceptance Date: Apr 4, 2025
• Deposit Date: Apr 29, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/14333682