Effect of Compositional Variations in the Lead Lanthanum Zirconate Stannate Titanate System on Electrical Properties

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effect of compositional modifications on the electrical properties of lead lanthanum zirconate stannate titanate (PLZST) ceramics, as well as to examine their electrically induced phasechange behavior. Variations in the Ti:Sn ratio were evaluated. Increased Ti 4+ content produced the following: decreased switching field, related to an increased antiferro‐electric‐ferroelectric (AFE‐FE) transition temperature; constant hysteresis (Δ E ) correlated with a constant temperature of the maximum dielectric constant (T max ); a sharper dielectric‐constant maximum peak; and increased room‐temperature dielectric constant ( K ). Variations in the Zr:Sn ratio also were evaluated. Increased Zr 4+ content produced the following: increased hysteresis with increased T max , decreased maximum dielectric constant, and decreased switching field with increased AFE‐FE transition temperature (T AFE _ FE ). From these results, with respect to compositional modifications, the AFE‐FE switching field (E AFE _ FE ) and Δ E were observed to be dependent strongly on T AFE _ FE and T max , respectively. Negligible change existed in the strain achievable at the switching field, which remained constant for all compositions at ∼0.16%. The significance of this research was the ability demonstrated to tailor the properties of phase‐change materials through compositional modifications.