Bi₂WO₆ has been considered as an alternative to barium titanate and PZT for higher frequency and higher temperature piezoelectric applications because of its:

• large spontaneous polarisation;

• lower dielectric constant;

• higher Curie temperature;

• lower temp. coefficients of the resonant frequency;

• stronger anisotropic electromechanical coupling.

However, attempts to grow large crystals from the melt have met with problems because of a phase change at about 860 ^oC which causes the crystals to crack on cooling.

This led us to investigate solution methods for the preparation of bismuth tungstate from metal alkoxide precursors. This lower temperature approach is particularly attractive for the deposition of thin films for integrated device applications.

We have therefore prepared bismuth and tungsten alkoxides and studied their solid-state structures and solution properties.

Solutions of these compounds were then converted to Bi₂WO₆ powders and thin films by sol-gel and chemical solution deposition techniques respectively.