Temperature dependence of field‐responsive mechanisms in lead zirconate titanate

An electric field loading stage was designed for use in a laboratory diffractometer that enables in situ investigations of the temperature dependence in the field response mechanisms of ferroelectric materials. The stage was demonstrated by measuring PbZr 1− x Ti x O 3 ( PZT ) based materials—a commercially available PZT and a 1% Nb‐doped PbZr 0.56 Ti 0.44 O 3 ( PZT 56/44)—over a temperature range of 25°C to 250°C. The degree of non‐180° domain alignment (η 002 ) of the PZT as a function of temperature was quantified. η 002 of the commercially available PZT increases exponentially with temperature, and was analyzed as a thermally activated process as described by the Arrhenius law. The activation energy for thermally activated domain wall depinning process in PZT was found to be 0.47 eV . Additionally, a field‐induced rhombohedral to tetragonal phase transition was observed 5°C below the rhombohedral‐tetragonal transition in PZT 56/44 ceramic. The field‐induced tetragonal phase fraction was increased 41.8% after electrical cycling. A large amount of domain switching (η 002 =0.45 at 1.75 kV/mm) was observed in the induced tetragonal phase.