Suppression of the antiferroelectric phase during polarization cycling of an induced ferroelectric phase

摘要

The ceramic Pb_(0.99)Nb_(0.02)[(Zr_(0.57)Sn_(0.43)_(0.92)Ti_(0.08)]_(0.98)O_3 can exist in either an antiferroelectric or a ferroelectric phase at room temperature, depending on the thermal and electrical history. The antiferroelectric phase can be partially recovered from the induced ferroelectric phase when the applied field reverses polarity. Therefore, polarization cycling of the ferroelectric phase in the ceramic under bipolar fields at room temperature is accompanied with repeated phase transitions. In this letter, the stability of the recovered antiferroelectric phase upon electrical cycling of the ceramic is investigated. Ex-situ X-ray diffraction reveals that bipolar cycling suppresses the antiferroelectric phase; this is indirectly supported by piezoelectric coefficient d_(33) measurements. It is speculated that the accumulated charged point defects during polarization cycling stabilize the polar ferroelectric phase. The findings presented are important to the fundamental studies of electric fatigue and field-induced phase transitions in ferroelectrics.