Large pyroelectricity via engineered ferroelectric‐relaxor phase boundary

Abstract

Abstract With growing demand for high‐sensitivity infrared detectors in industrial temperature monitoring and medical systems, high‐performance pyroelectric materials are vitally required. In this work, large pyroelectric performance is achieved in (1 − x)Pb0.99Nb0.02[(Zr0.57Sn0.43)0.937Ti0.063]0.98O3–xBaTiO3 (1 − x)PNZST–xBT ceramics by tuning the ferroelectric (FE)‐relaxor phase boundary near room temperature. The FE‐ and ergodic‐relaxor phase boundaries are engineered by breaking the long‐range antiferroelectric order with the introduction of BaTiO3. It is found that the ceramics with x = 0.15 exhibit a large pyroelectric coefficient of 11.3 × 10–4 C m–2 K–1 and figures of merit of Fi = 20.1 × 10–10 m V–1, Fv = 3.44 × 10–2 m2 C–1, and Fd = 3.87 × 10–5 Pa–1/2 around room temperature due to engineered phase boundary. Our results provide the potential technological application for ultrasensitive infrared detector and scientific insights into pyroelectric ceramic design.