Highly efficient and giant negative electrocaloric effect of a Nb and Sn co-doped lead zirconate titanate antiferroelectric film near room temperature

Abstract

Adiabatic temperature variation (ΔT), coefficient of performance (COP) and electrocaloric coefficient (ΔT/ΔE) play important roles in evaluating the comprehensive performance of solid-state cooling technology based on the electrocaloric effect (ECE). A Nb and Sn co-doped lead zirconate titanate antiferroelectric film, Pb_0.99Nb_0.02(Zr_0.85Sn_0.13Ti_0.02)O₃ (PNZST), shows a highly efficient and giant negative ECE. The ΔT, |ΔT/ΔE| and COP are about −9.8 K, 0.0488 K cm kV⁻¹ and 35.53 at around 50 °C, respectively. The full width at half maximum of the ΔT peak is about 37 °C. Phenomenological analysis indicates that the highly efficient and giant negative ECE is associated with the first-order transition that has a discontinuous polarization change with increasing temperature.