Study of polarization behavior in BaTiO<sub>3</sub>-based multilayer ceramic capacitors using AC- and Uni-poling treatment ∼ Part 1: Effects of microstructural changes

Abstract

To obtain guidelines for the microstructure design of BaTiO3-based multilayer ceramic capacitors from the viewpoint of polarization behavior, the effects of AC- and Uni-poling treatments were examined using intentionally grain-growth samples. For purposes of comparison, the DC-aging characteristics of each sample were also examined. From the results of the polarization behavior induced by AC- and Uni-poling treatments, it was confirmed that changes in the core–shell structure, grain size, and oxygen vacancy concentration of the dielectrics strongly affected the domain wall pinning. In comparison with DC-aging characteristics, AC- and Uni-poling treatments are also expected to be effective tools for clarifying the relationships among more detailed microstructure and polarization behaviors of dielectrics.