Phase-Transition-Based Thermal Conductivity in Anti-Ferroelectric Materials

摘要

Thermal conductivity can be altered by applying an electric field to an antiferroelectric material or a pressure to a ferroelectric material, thereby inducing a phase transition. The materials have compositions close to a phase boundary separating the ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases, such as PbZr_1−xTi_xO₃ (with x≦0.08), Pb(Nb_xZr_ySn_zTi_1-y-z)O₃, (Pb,La)(Zr_ySn_zTi_1-y-z)O₃, NaNbO₃, Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃, or AgNbO₃. By inducing a phase transition using either an electric field or pressure, the resulting change in the thermal conductivity can be used to provide a thermal switch or a continuous thermal conductivity tuning element.