Piezoelectric materials, which have the ability to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy or vice versa, have been widely used in making electromechanical devices and in the field of electro-acoustics. The advancement in broadband ultrasonic transducers, high sensitivity sensors, and large strain actuators need the piezoelectric materials to have larger piezoelectric constants and higher electromechanical coupling factors. A relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystal (1-x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O_3-xPbTiO₃ (PMN-xPT or PMN-PT) and its modified version (commonly referred as relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystals) fulfilled such demands, which have giant piezoelectric coefficients and very high electromechanical coupling factors. For example, the piezoelectric constant and electromechanical coupling factor of PMN-33%PT are 2 800 pC/N and 94%, respectively. This article intends to provide an overview
on the development of relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystals and their applications in medical ultrasound transducers.