Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Kenichi Nada

Kosuke Shiratsuyu

Masataka Kida

Kazunari Okada

Kohichi Hayashi

The present invention relates to a method for producing a lead zirconate titanate-based ceramic powder containing uniform, fine lead zirconate titanate, using a solid-phase method. The method includes the steps of mixing a lead oxide powder, a zirconium oxide powder, and a titanium oxide powder to form a mixed base powder; and heat-treating the mixed base powder so that lead oxide in the lead oxide powder and titanium oxide in the titanium oxide powder react to produce lead titanate, and that unreacted lead oxide not used in the reaction, the lead titanate produced by the reaction, and zirconium oxide in the zirconium oxide powder react to produce the lead zirconate titanate-based ceramic powder containing lead zirconate titanate.

Method of making lead zirconate titanate-based ceramic powder, piezoelectric ceramic and method for making same, and piezoelectric ceramic element

A piezoelectric ceramic which maintains a high piezoelectric property in a composition having MPB structure and has an excellent ability for stabilizing the resonant frequency is provided. The piezoelectric ceramic has a solid solution expressed by the general expression xPbTiO.sub.3 --(1-x) PbZrO.sub.3 as its main component. The value of x in the above general expression causes the piezoelectric ceramic to have a composition having the morphotropic phase boundary structure. A ceramic having a spinel type structure is dispersed within the structure of the piezoelectric ceramic. The amount of the ceramic having the spinel type structure existing in the structure is set at about 5 volume % or less. Co.sub.2 TiO.sub.4, Mn.sub.3 O.sub.4, Fe.sub.3 O.sub.4, Mg.sub.2 TiO.sub.4 and a ceramic having a compound spinel type structure which is a solid solution of them can be used as the ceramic having the spinel type structure.

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Shiga-ken, Japan

Kenichi Nada