Fabrication of high density, fine-grained PZT ceramics using a post-sinter HIP treatment

For many applications, such as medical array transducers, the frequency of use of ceramics is limited by their grain size and porosity content. Here, the microstructure of two commercial soft PZT ceramics (with /spl epsiv//sub r/ of 1800 and 4000) is optimised through a combined sintering and HIP study. The study includes the effect of sintering temperature (T=1100 to 1260/spl deg/C) and HIP conditions (T=1000/spl deg/C, P=50 to 200 MPa and t=1 to 4 h) on the microstructure and dielectric and piezoelectric properties. The properties obtained are compared with those of the conventionally prepared ceramics.