Giant negative electrocaloric effect induced by domain transition in the strained ferroelectric thin film

• Published in: Journal of physics. Condensed matter Vol. 30; no. 46; p. 465401
• Main Authors: Hou, Xu, Wu, Huaping, Li, Huiyu, Chen, Haoyun, Wang, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IOP Publishing 21.11.2018
• Subjects: domain transition; electrocaloric effect; ferroelectric thin film; mismatch strain
• ISSN: 0953-8984; 1361-648X
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/aae602

Electrocaloric effect (ECE) of ferroelectric materials is highly dependent on the domain transition with temperature. The effect of domain transition on the ECE of PbTiO3 (PTO) ferroelectric thin films subjected to different mismatch strains is investigated by a phase field model based on the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation. The simulation results demonstrate that there exists a multiple-to-single domain transition induced by temperature in the PTO thin film. The domain transition occurs at a temperature that is much lower than Curie temperature, resulting in a giant negative ECE in the strained ferroelectric thin film. Furthermore, the domain transition temperature and the corresponding negative ECE can be tuned by the magnitude of mismatch strain. The present study suggests an effective way to obtain a giant negative ECE by domain transitions in the strained ferroelectric thin film.