Effect of rare earth additives on the properties of the PLMN-13PT:RE transparent ceramics

Abstract The transparent relaxor ferroelectric ceramics of the system lanthanum modified lead magnesium niobate (PLMN-13PT) have been investigated for a variety of electro-optic, properties; good electro-optic switching times and modest half-wave voltages. In this work, the dependence of microstructural, structural, dielectrical, optical, and electro-optical properties in function of Rare Earth (RE = Tm3+, Nd3+, Yb3+, Er3+ and Ho3+) has been reported. PLMN-13PT:RE with excellent properties were obtained, highlighting the electrical, optical, and electrooptical properties, suitable for the fabrication of multifunctional devices. The most prominent or important feature is the largest quadratic Electro-optic coefficient achieved ((9.37 ± 0.39) × 10−16 m2/V2) corresponding to PLMN-13PT:Ho transparent ceramics. This result in addition to the electrical and photoluminescence properties becomes a promising alternative to building multifunctional devices.