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An Unconventional Transient Phase with Cycloidal Order of Polarization in Energy‐Storage Antiferroelectric PbZrO 3
Author(s) -
Wei XianKui,
Jia ChunLin,
Du HongChu,
Roleder Krystian,
Mayer Joachim,
DuninBorkowski Rafal E.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201907208
Subject(s) - antiferroelectricity , materials science , ferroelectricity , polarization (electrochemistry) , energy storage , phase transition , dielectric , atomic units , dipole , nanotechnology , condensed matter physics , optoelectronics , physics , chemistry , power (physics) , quantum mechanics
Antiferroelectric‐based dielectric capacitors are receiving tremendous attention for their outstanding energy‐storage performance and extraordinary flexibility in collecting pulsed powers. Nevertheless, the in situ atomic‐scale structural‐evolution pathway, inherently coupling to the energy storage process, has not been elucidated for the ultimate mechanistic understanding so far. Here, time‐ and atomic‐resolution structural phase evolution in antiferroelectric PbZrO 3 during storage of energy from the electron‐beam illumination is reported. By employing state‐of‐the‐art negative‐spherical‐aberration imaging technique, the quantitative transmission electron microscopy study presented herein clarifies that the hierarchical evolution of polar oxygen octahedra associated with the unit‐cell volume change and polarization rotation accounts for the stepwise antiferroelectric‐to‐ferroelectric phase transition. In particular, an unconventional ferroelectric category—the ferrodistortive phase characteristic of a unique cycloidal polarization order—is established during the dynamic structure investigation. Through clarifying the atomic‐scale phase transformation pathway, findings of this work unveil a new territory to explore novel ferrodistortive phases in energy‐storage materials with the nonpolar‐to‐polar phase transitions.