Giant electrocaloric effect at the antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric phase boundary in Pb(ZrxTi1–x)O3

Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulations predict a giant electrocaloric effect at the ferroelectric-antiferroelectric phase boundary in PZT (PbTiO3-PbZrO3). These large-scale simulations also give insights into the atomistic mechanisms of the electrocaloric effect in Pb(ZrxTi1–x)O3. We predict a positive electrocaloric effect in ferroelectric PZT, but antiferroelectric PZT exhibits a negative-to-positive crossover with the increasing temperature or electric field. At the antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric phase boundary, we find complex domain patterns. We demonstrate that the origin of the giant electrocaloric change of temperature is related to the easy structural response of the dipolar system to external stimuli in the transition region.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jul 08, 2019
Source ID
10.1063/1.5096592

Entities

People

  • A. V. Kimmel
  • Dorothy M Duffy
  • Oliver Gindele
  • Ronald E Cohen

Organizations

  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council
  • Horizon 2020
  • NanoGUNE
  • Office of Naval Research
  • University College London

Tags

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Materials Science and Engineering.