Unraveling the Multi-Scale Structure-Performance Correlation of Temperature Stable Relaxors at Extreme Conditions
Abstract
The rapidly rising demands for electric power and energy storage have lead to some of the critical challenges of our times. One such challenge deals with designing materials tolerant to extreme electric fields. The choices of dielectric materials, physical dimensions, and electric fields in key devices are limited by electrical breakdown. Beyond a threshold field, cascades of accelerating electrons in an insulator result in electrical discharge and failure. Lead free, temperature stable relaxor ferroelectrics are highly promising materials that can endure such harsh conditions. Despite the extensive exploration on these materials, current understanding of their local heterostructure is not sufficient to fully explain their unique temperature response. A detailed examination of local structural inhomogeneities and dynamics at the nanoscale is needed to gain insight into the local atomic displacements, the interplay between the temperature stable dielectric behavior, and nanoscale domains. Understanding the dynamic response of the domains to the external electric field at the nanoscale level will be extremely valuable to unveil the origin of the high energy storage performance in relaxor ferroelectrics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 21, 2022
- Source ID
- FA95502110396XX0
Entities
People
- Volkan Ortalan
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Connecticut