A high-quality 0.96Na(0.5)Bi(0.5)TiO(3)-0.04BaTiO(3) (NBBT96/4) single crystal was grown by carefully controlled top-seed solution growth (TSSG) method. The crystal structure and electrical properties of NBBT96/4 single crystal were characterized. With the improvement of crystal quality, the values of piezoelectric constant d(33) and electromechanical coupling coefficient k(t) reach 283 pC/N and 50%, respectively, which obviously increased compared with NBBT96/4 grown by Pt wire. Moreover, the ferroelectric properties of as-grown crystal also enhanced obviously. The leakage current in NBBT96/4 single crystal was also discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.