Irreversibility of the antiferroelectric to ferroelectric phase transition in (Pb_0.90Ba_0.10)ZrO₃ ceramics

Abstract

Dielectric and x-ray diffraction evidences are presented to show that the antiferroelectric to ferroelectric phase transition in (Pb_0.90Ba_0.10)ZrO₃ ceramics is not reversible during the cooling cycle. It is shown that the stable antiferroelectric phase recovers from the metastable ferroelectric matrix on aging at room temperature. The kinetics of recovery of the antiferroelectric phase is very sluggish. It is pointed out that this type of irreversibility occurs in field induced antiferroelectric to ferroelectric transitions also. This may have serious implications for the actuator applications of these materials. It is proposed that the large transformation strains associated with the antiferroelectric orthorhombic to ferroelectric rhombohedral phase transition is responsible for this irreversibility.