Giant Grain Growth in (K,Na)NbO3 Ceramics

Abstract

In this manuscript, an interesting phenomenon is reported. It has been reported that the growth of single crystals is observed in donor-doped (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN)-based ceramics. It is very interesting that the growth happens without the addition of a seed. The growth of huge grains (single crystal, approximately 30 mm,) occurs due to the abnormal grain growth (AGG) in KNN-based ceramics. In the AGG compositions, moreover, the seed plates can be synthesized by not topochemical reaction but simple molten salt synthesis (SMSS) which is a simple-and-cheap process. They can be a good candidate for the seeds at reactive templated grain growth (RTGG) or templated grain growth (TGG) process.