Energy storage and polarization switching kinetics of (001)-oriented Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.95Ti0.05)O3 antiferroelectric thick films

For antiferroelectric (AFE) energy storage, the stability of energy storage density and conversion efficiency against wide temperature (T) range and broad frequency (f) band is highly preferred. In this work, we investigate the energy storage and associated kinetics of polarization switching in (001)-textured AFE Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.95Ti0.05)O-3 (PLZT 2/95/5) thick films prepared by sol-gel method. A recoverable energy storage density (W-re) of similar to 26.8 J/cm(3) and an energy conversion efficiency (eta) as high as similar to 62.5% have been obtained under an electric field of 1.85 MV/cm and room temperature. Both the W-re and eta are only weakly T-dependent up to 280 degrees C and weakly f-dependent ranging from 20 Hz to 10 kHz. The high frequency stability originates from the rapid polarization switching as identified by the nucleation-limited-switching theory, suggesting a characteristic switching time as short as similar to 3 ns, favorable for applications in pulse energy storage. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.