Korea Institute of Ceramic Technology, Development of Piezoelectric Single Crystal and Piezoelectric Composite Materials
Collaboration of joint research teams including Seracom, Iblephotonics, and Kinori

The Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology (www.kicet.re.kr) recently announced that it has developed single crystal and composite materials with the world's highest piezoelectric performance through the successful completion of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's core defense material technology development project.

Currently, piezoelectric materials are key materials used in various fields, including defense (sonars, underwater acoustic sensors, actuators for precision control, etc.), industrial ultrasonic sensors, and medical ultrasonic diagnostic devices.

The piezoelectric single crystal developed by a joint research team of Dr. Jong-in Lim of the Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology and members of Ceramicom Co., Ltd. (CEO Won-seon Baek), Iblephotonics Co., Ltd. (CEO Sang-goo Lee), and Kinori Co., Ltd. (CEO Byun Dong-ho) has improved not only the dielectric constant and piezoelectric constant but also the phase transition temperature compared to existing materials, expanding its fields of application through miniaturization of parts and temperature stability.

Despite the excellent piezoelectric properties of existing piezoelectric single crystals (PMN-PT series), their applications were limited above 60 degrees, and there was a limitation that the operating temperature would actually decrease if the dielectric constant and piezoelectric constant were improved due to the material properties.

In addition, piezoelectric composites can be made lighter and larger by improving materials and processes, and their detection capabilities can be improved by increasing response performance.Improves quality performance.

In existing piezoelectric composites, a portion of the piezoelectric ceramics was replaced with polymers, and the structure was simplified to make it lighter. In addition, by applying the powder injection molding method, a plastic molding method, to the manual manufacturing process, it became possible to produce larger products and mass-produce them with more uniform characteristics.

In particular, the powder injection molding method can manufacture materials with complex three-dimensional shapes by using a molding method using an injection molding machine, and since arrangement and post-processing are easy, it can also be manufactured in the form of large curved panels, which can expand the application field for defense purposes, such as the side of an unmanned submarine.

Currently, advanced countries such as the US and France are actively applying piezoelectric single crystals and piezoelectric composites for defense purposes, while in Korea, they are only being used in a limited manner in some industries such as the medical field. In the US, HC Material, TRS, and MSI are producing piezoelectric single crystal and piezoelectric composite materials, which are being applied to defense sensor systems centered around the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

In Korea, it is being used as a sensor material for medical and industrial purposes and is under development for defense purposes.