The Design and Fabrication of Shear-Mode Piezoelectric Accelerometers with High Bandwidth Using High Piezoelectric g-Coefficient NKN-Based Ceramics

In this work, lead-free (Na_0.475K_0.475Li_0.05)NbO₃ + <i>x</i> wt.% ZnO (NKLN, <i>x</i> = 0 to 0.3) piezoelectric ceramics with high piezoelectric g-coefficients were prepared by conventional solid-state synthesis method. By adding different concentrations of ZnO dopants, we aimed to improve the material properties and enhance their piezoelectric properties. The effects of the ZnO addition on the microstructure, dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties of the proposed samples are investigated. Adding ZnO reduced the dielectric constant and improved the g-value of the samples. The properties of the samples without ZnO doping were g₃₃ = 31 mV·m/N, g₁₅ = 34 mV·m/N, k_p = 0.39, Q_m = 92, ε_r = 458, d₃₃ = 127 pC/N and dielectric loss = 3.4%. With the preferable ZnO doping of 1 wt.%, the piezoelectric properties improved to g₃₃ = 40 mV·m/N, g₁₅ = 44 mV·m/N, k_p = 0.44, Q_m = 89, ε_r = 406, d₃₃ = 139 pC/N and dielectric loss = 2.4%. Finally, ring-shaped shear mode piezoelectric accelerometers were fabricated using the optimum ZnO-doped samples. The simulated resonant frequency using ANSYS 2024 R1 software was approximately 23 kHz, while the actual measured resonant frequency of the devices was 19 kHz. The sensitivity was approximately 7.08 mV/g. This piezoelectric accelerometer suits applications requiring lower sensitivity and higher resonant frequencies, such as monitoring high-frequency vibrations in high-speed machinery, robotic arms or scientific research and engineering fields involving high-frequency vibration testing.