Fatigue of Field‐Induced Strain in Antiferroelectric Pb _0.97 La _0.02 (Zr _0.77 Sn _0.14 Ti _0.09 )O ₃ Ceramics

Abstract

The fatigue of mechanical strain induced by electric fields was investigated for antiferroelectric Pb 0.97 La 0.02 (Zr 0.77 Sn 0.14 Ti 0.09 )O 3 ceramics. The material shows a high resistance to fatigue owing to bipolar electric cycling up to 10 8 cycles. The strain hysteresis loop is still fairly symmetric, whereas the maximum field‐induced strain decreases by only 30% of its initial value. The fatigued samples show a damaged microstructure with dendritic macrocracks and microcrack clouds. The fatigue is attributed to a combination of electrochemical and mechanical mechanisms.