Lead scandium tantalate
Lead scandium tantalate (PST) is a mixed oxide of lead, scandium, and tantalum. It has the formula Pb(Sc0.5Ta0.5)O3. It is a ceramic material with a perovskite structure,{{cite journal |last1=Chu |first1=Fan |last2=Fox |first2=Glen R. |last3=Setter |first3=Nava|author3-link=Nava Setter |title=Dielectric Properties of Complex Perovskite Lead Scandium Tantalate under dc Bias |journal=Journal of the American Ceramic Society |date=21 January 2005 |volume=81 |issue=6 |pages=1577–1582 |doi=10.1111/j.1151-2916.1998.tb02519.x }} 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 at temperatures below {{convert|270|K|C F}},{{cite journal |last1=Groves |first1=P |title=Low-temperature studies of ferroelectric lead scandium tantalate |journal=Journal of Physics C: Solid State Physics |date=10 December 1985 |volume=18 |issue=34 |pages=L1073–L1078 |doi=10.1088/0022-3719/18/34/002 }} and is also piezoelectric.{{cite journal |last1=De Kroon |first1=A. P. |last2=Dunn |first2=S. C. |last3=Whatmore |first3=R. W. |title=Piezo- and pyroelectric properties of lead scandium tantalate thin films |journal=Integrated Ferroelectrics |date=February 2001 |volume=35 |issue=1–4 |pages=209–218 |doi=10.1080/10584580108016902 |bibcode=2001InFer..35..209D |s2cid=98163109 }} Like structurally similar lead zirconate titanate and barium strontium titanate, PST can be used for manufacture of uncooled focal plane array infrared imaging sensors for thermal cameras.{{cite book |last1=Todd |first1=Michael A. |last2=Donohue |first2=Paul P. |last3=Watton |first3=Rex |last4=Williams |first4=Dennis J. |last5=Anthony |first5=Carl J. |last6=Blamire |first6=Mark G. |editor1-first=Randolph E |editor1-last=Longshore |editor2-first=Sivalingam |editor2-last=Sivananthan |title=Materials for Infrared Detectors II |chapter=High-performance ferroelectric and magnetoresistive materials for next-generation thermal detector arrays |date=1 December 2002 |volume=4795 |pages=88 |doi=10.1117/12.452244|s2cid=110191731 }}