Lead scandium tantalate (PST) is a mixed oxide of lead, scandium, and tantalum. It has the formula Pb( Sc_0.5 Ta_0.5) O₃. It is a

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

material with a

perovskite structure A perovskite is a crystalline material of formula ABX3 with a crystal structure similar to that of the mineral perovskite, this latter consisting of calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3). The mineral was first discovered in the Ural mountains of ...

, where the Sc and Ta atoms at the B site have an arrangement that is intermediate between ordered and disordered configurations, and can be fine-tuned with thermal treatment. It is

ferroelectric In physics and materials science, ferroelectricity is a characteristic of certain materials that have a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by the application of an external electric field. All ferroelectrics are also piezoel ...

at temperatures below , and is also

piezoelectric Piezoelectricity (, ) is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins—in response to applied stress (mechanics), mechanical s ...

. Like structurally similar

lead zirconate titanate Lead zirconate titanate, also called lead zirconium titanate and commonly abbreviated as PZT, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a ceramic perovskite material that shows a marked piezoelectric effect, meaning that the comp ...

and

barium strontium titanate A perovskite is a crystalline material of formula ABX3 with a crystal structure similar to that of the mineral perovskite, this latter consisting of calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3). The mineral was first discovered in the Ural mountains of ...

, PST can be used for manufacture of uncooled

focal plane array A staring array, also known as staring-plane array or focal-plane array (FPA), is an image sensor consisting of an array (typically rectangular) of light-sensing pixels at the focal plane of a lens. FPAs are used most commonly for imaging purpos ...

infrared imaging Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared im ...

sensors for

thermal camera Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared im ...

References

Lead(II) compounds Scandium compounds Tantalates Ceramic materials Ferroelectric materials Piezoelectric materials Infrared sensor materials Perovskites {{Inorganic-compound-stub