Lead magnesium niobate ceramics (PMN) belong to the class of ferroelectric materials used in various technological applications. However it is very difficult to produce a single phase material consisting of only the perovskite structure. Recent studies have shown that the addition of PT and La permit, respectively, to stabilize the perovskite phase and to achieve transparency of the order of commercial PLZT ceramics. In this work the powder synthesis of the system (1-x)PLMN-xPT as a function of PT (0.11<x<0.15), for 1% mol of La, was carried out. Only traces of pyrochlore phase (2-3%) in DRX powder were found, without a direct relationship with the concentration of PT. The results revealed a homogeneous microstructure, high density for all the compositions densified by hot pressing. High optical transmittance for x = 0.14 was found (55% in λ= 632 nm). Quadratic electro-optic coefficients as high as 17.5 x10-16 m²/V² position these ceramics as the best response among the electro-optic ferroelectrics.
PLMN-PT ceramics; optical transmittance; electro-optic coefficients
