High pyroelectric performance due to ferroelectric–antiferroelectric transition near room temperature

Abstract

Pyroelectric materials have a huge market in daily life applications and high pyroelectric performances near room temperature are highly desired. Here we report high pyroelectric performance with adjustable peak performance temperature of 29–46.2 °C in the (1 − x)Pb_0.99Nb_0.02[(Zr_0.57Sn_0.43)_0.937Ti_0.063]_0.98O₃–xZnO ((1 − x)PNZST–xZnO) composite. The x = 0.1 composite has a peak pyroelectric coefficient of 1053.9 × 10⁻⁴ C m⁻² K⁻¹ and figures of merit of F_v = 1249.4 × 10⁻² m² C⁻¹, F_d = 876.3 × 10⁻⁵ Pa^−1/2, and F_i = 832.7 × 10⁻¹⁰ m V⁻¹ at around 39 °C. It is found that a robust room temperature ferroelectric state is realized in antiferroelectric PNZST due to ZnO-induced internal strain. The thermal-driven ferroelectric to antiferroelectric transition leads to high pyroelectric performance. This work provides a promising material candidate for high performance pyroelectric devices.