Electric field induced metastable ferroelectric phase and its behavior in (Pb, La)(Zr, Sn, Ti)O3 antiferroelectric single crystal near morphotropic phase boundary

摘要

Antiferroelectric (AFE) (Pb, La)(Zr, Sn, Ti)O3 (PLZST) single crystal with composition near morphotropic phase boundary has been grown and studied. X-ray diffraction analysis and electrical properties reveal coexistence of antiferroelectric/ferroelectric (FE) phases, with the AFE phase dominated at room temperature. Temperature-dependent polarization and strain measurements indicate that the AFE phase can be induced into a metastable FE phase by electric field. The FE phase can be maintained in a wide temperature range above room temperature and recovers to AFE phase around a critical temperature of 90 °C, accompanied with remarkable change in field-induced strain. The strain at 90 °C (∼0.50%) is ten times larger than that at room temperature (∼0.04%), which makes the PLZST single crystal a promising candidate for thermal switch and actuator application.