Effect of Sm and Ni co-doping on optical and electrical properties of lead magnesate niobate titanate ceramics
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The ability to manipulate the bandgap while maintaining strong ferroelectricity in perovskite oxides offers numerous functional advantages, including multimodal energy harvesting/sensing, current modulation, dual-source actuation, electric-free poling, and enhanced bulk photovoltaic effect. However, bandgap engineering of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) - renowned for its outstanding piezoelectric properties - via Ni2+ doping remains unexplored, despite its prior success in alkaline niobates. This study provides a comprehensive characterization of the structure-property relationships in Sm/Ni co-doped PMN-PT ceramics, especially for their optoelectrical properties. The results show that Ni2+ doping behaves differently than in alkaline niobates. Nevertheless, Sm/Ni co-doping effectively tunes the phase transition, photoconductivity, charge carrier trapping, and optical absorption while retaining reasonable piezoelectric energy harvesting performance. Overall, this work offers insights into the role of Ni2+ in the band structure of Sm-PMN-PT perovskite and pyrochlore phases.
Source: PLoS ONE
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,382
Awards: G208125138, G317939215, G3188437891, G3728818118, Unification of the best piezoelectric and photovoltaic properties in a single photoferroelectric material, G5096929151, MAX IV operations – Formas, G5224014036, G5229471624, Cross-dimensional Activation of Two-Dimensional Semiconductors for Photocatalytic Heterojunctions, G594270511, G6043833273, G712881263, G7770448745, MAX IV operations 2019-2021, G8674945231, G8693631393
OpenAlex ID: W7204891252