Ferroelectric material losses in devices ranging from sonar transducers to energy harvesters result in the conversion of energy to heat. Under small amplitude sinusoidal drive, either electrical or mechanical, the losses are expressed in terms of a loss tangent. This study addressed the effects of temperature and bias stress on large field dielectric loss in the presence of thermal and mechanical loading in lanthanum-doped lead zirconate titanate, Pb_0.92La_0.08(Zr_0.65Ti_0.35)_0.98O₃ (PLZT 8/65/35). This loss is associated with domain wall motion. Large field dielectric loss was experimentally measured using a technique that matches the area within a unipolar electric displacement – electric field hysteresis loop to an equivalent area ellipse-shaped hysteresis loop. The results indicate that the dependence of dielectric loss on bias stress changes with the onset of a thermally induced transition to slim loop behavior. Stress causes the dielectric loss to increase at low temperature and decrease at high temperature. This is consistent with changes in remnant polarization and saturation of the unipolar electric field – electric displacement hysteresis loops.

Date Published: 3 April 2013
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8689, Behavior and Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials and Composites 2013, 868906 (3 April 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2013750

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8689:
Behavior and Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials and Composites 2013
Nakhiah C. Goulbourne; Hani E. Naguib, Editor(s)