Nonlinear piezoelectricity and electrostriction of alpha quartz

Abstract
Starting from the rotationally invariant nonlinear equations of electroelasticity the initial derivative of the propagation velocity of elastic waves with respect to the magnitude of an electric biasing field is derived. This derivative is given by an expression which is linear in third-order material constants. From propagation measurements of ultrasonic waves under the application of a constant electric field, values for the eight independent components of the nonlinear piezoelectric tensor eKABCD and for the eight independent components of the electrostriction tensor lKLAB for alpha quartz are obtained. While some of the electrostriction constants remain rather uncertain, the nonlinear piezoelectric constants are determined with good accuracy.