Effects of compressive stress on electric-field-induced phase transition of antiferroelectric ceramics

In certain lead zirconate titanate compositions, the antiferroelectric (AFE) phase can be driven to the ferroelectric (FE) phase by electric field, and the induced FE phase can either revert to AFE or remain FE upon removal of the electric field. This results in a double or single hysteresis loop, respectively. To further explore the effects of the FE-AFE phase transition on electrical energy storage and conversion, two types of AFE ceramics were fabricated, and the effects of compressive stress on the AFE-FE phase transition were investigated. Compressive stress suppresses the volume increase associated with the AFE-FE transition, thus hindering the phase transition. Compressive stress also hinders polarization orientation in the FE phase, thus increasing the field necessary to achieve saturation polarization. For AFE compositions displaying a double hysteresis loop, the electrical energy storage performance can be enhanced by compressive stress. For the AFE compositions with a single hysteresis loop, the remanent polarization of the induced FE phase decreased and the coercive field did not change much within the range of compressive stress applied. In addition, the remanent polarization was reduced by 50% under a compressive stress of 126 MPa, indicating that this composition is a candidate for mechanical-electrical energy conversion.