Samarium- and manganese-doped lead titanate (Pb0.85Sm0.1Ti0.98Mn0.02O3, PSmT) ceramic powder was prepared by sol-gel method. The particle size of the sol-gel powder was about 250 nm. PSmT ceramics were also fabricated from the fine powder. The sintering temperature of these ceramics was lower than that of the ceramics made from mixed oxides. The X-ray diffraction patterns show that the ceramics have a pure tetragonal crystal structure. The c and a of the unit cell were 4.068 and 3.897 Angstrom, respectively. The piezoelectric and dielectric properties were measured by using an impedance analyzer and a d(33) meter. The dielectric permittivity, piezoelectric constant and thickness electromechanical coupling coefficient k(t) of the ceramics were 180, 51 and 0.44 pC N-1, respectively. The planar electromechanical coupling coefficient k(p) value was lower than 0.05. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.