Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
A fiber-optic device is used to determine the magnitude and phase of the strain in the poling direction of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic wafers. This information yields the real and imaginary components of the piezoelectric strain coefficient d33. The measurement hardware and software are described and results from the measurements of d33 for PZT 4 and 5 H wafers are presented. This method has the advantages of being direct, inexpensive and relatively simple to use. Verification of the results is provided through the use of the resonance method.