Ultrafast Electric Field Pulse Control of Giant Temperature Change in Ferroelectrics

Journal Article · Tue Jan 30 00:00:00 UTC 2018 · Physical Review Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.120.055901 · OSTI ID:1424723

Qi, Y. ^[1]; Liu, S. ^[2]; Lindenberg, A. M. ^[3]; Rappe, A. M. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States). Makineni Theoretical Lab., Dept. of Chemistry
2. Carnegie Inst. for Science, Washington, DC (United States). Geophysical Lab.
3. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

There is a surge of interest in developing environmentally friendly solid-state-based cooling technology. Here, we point out that a fast cooling rate (≈ 10¹¹ K/s) can be achieved by driving solid crystals to a high-temperature phase with a properly designed electric field pulse. Specifically, we predict that an ultrafast electric field pulse can cause a giant temperature decrease up to 32 K in PbTiO₃ occurring on few picosecond time scales. Here, we explain the underlying physics of this giant electric field pulse-induced temperature change with the concept of internal energy redistribution: the electric field does work on a ferroelectric crystal and redistributes its internal energy, and the way the kinetic energy is redistributed determines the temperature change and strongly depends on the electric field temporal profile. This concept is supported by our all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of PbTiO₃ and BaTiO₃. Moreover, this internal energy redistribution concept can also be applied to understand electrocaloric effect. We further propose new strategies for inducing giant cooling effect with ultrafast electric field pulse. This Letter offers a general framework to understand electric-field-induced temperature change and highlights the opportunities of electric field engineering for controlled design of fast and efficient cooling technology.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515; FG02-07ER46431
• OSTI ID: 1424723
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 120; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English