SBIR Phase I: Fabrication of Single-Crystal-Like PMNPT

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目致力于大规模生产高性能压电单晶的低成本技术。该方法将潜在地导致新一代工程压电晶体表现出以前无法达到的低成本、高质量和体积的属性。所提出的技术使用一种新的烧结工艺来克服纯单晶形式固有的机械强度、尺寸和均匀性的传统限制。该方法采用了模板晶粒生长机制内的矩阵再结晶过程。该计划是在这个项目中展示具有单晶性质的高度晶粒取向的压电晶体陶瓷。这项技术开发的成功将大大加快新一代压电器件从实验室原型到市场实际部署的过渡。该项目的商业应用是压电器件。该技术使新的压电器件具有超越当前技术的改进性能成为可能。这些材料的预期目标包括医疗超声诊断和治疗，主动机床控制和HVAC系统中的振动抑制。美国国家科学基金会最近的一份报告估计，美国市场上的压电陶瓷材料约为2000万美元。15亿美元。全球市场估计超过110亿美元。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses a low cost technology for the mass production of high performance piezoelectric single crystals. The approach will potentially lead to a new generation of engineered piezocrystals exhibiting attributes of low cost, high quality and volume not previously attainable. The proposed technology uses a novel sintering process to overcome conventional limitations to the mechanical strength, size and homogeneity inherent in pure single crystal forms. The approach incorporates a templated grain growth mechanism within the matrix recrystallization process. The plan is to demonstrate highly grain-oriented piezocrystal ceramics with single-crystal-like properties during this program. The success of this technological development will dramatically expedite the transition of new generation piezoelectric devices from laboratory prototypes to their practical deployment in the market.The commercial application of this project is in piezoelectric devices. The technology makes possible new piezoelectric devices with improved performance that is beyond current technology. The anticipated targets for these materials include medical ultrasonic diagnostics and therapeutics, active machine tool control, and vibration suppression in HVAC systems. A recent report by the National Science Foundation estimates the U.S. market piezoelectric ceramic materials at ca. $1.5B. The global market is estimated at over $11B.