Negative capacitance regime in antiferroelectric PbZrO3
- Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States); University of South Florida
- Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States)
The potential of antiferroelectrics to exhibit a negative capacitance regime has been largely overlooked as all the attention focused on their polar counterparts, ferroelectrics. We use nonequilibrium first-principles-based molecular dynamics to probe a negative capacitance regime in prototypical antiferroelectric PbZrO3. Simulations predict that this antiferroelectric can exhibit a negative capacitance/susceptibility regime in response of polarization to an internal electric field, which is a superposition of applied and residual depolarizing fields. Consequently, the regime emerges when the polarization surface charge in the polar phase of antiferroelectric is not fully screened, as is often the case in thin films and nanostructures. The negative capacitance regime occurs below the Curie temperature and disappears in the paraelectric phase. We find that the time the material spends in the negative capacitance regime is proportional to the time needed to complete antipolar–polar (or its reverse) transition and shortens as the frequency of the applied field increases. Furthermore, a negative susceptibility value exhibits strong dependence on the quality of surface charge screening with the largest in magnitude values occurring in the vicinity of the transition into a negative capacitance regime.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0005245
- OSTI ID:
- 1889388
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1877311
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 132; ISSN 0021-8979
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English