Uniaxial stress-dependent dielectric properties and phase transitions of antiferroelectric AgNbO3

Abstract

Antiferroelectric AgNbO3 ceramic is investigated with a focus on the effects of uniaxial compressive stress on dielectric response and phase transitions as well as its frequency-dependent ferroelastic behavior. The application of uniaxial compressive stress leads to diffused phase transitions, higher phase transition temperatures, and increased permittivity parallel to the stress application direction for low-temperature phase regions (MI, MIIa). The stress-dependent permittivity response at different phase regions reveals the influence of stress on domain wall motion and phase changes. Additionally, loading rate-dependent stress–strain measurements demonstrate easier ferroelastic domain switching under a lower loading frequency, where the coercive stress increases with frequency initially while getting saturated above 5 mHz. This study reveals the impact of external stress, which can alter the dielectric response and affect domain wall movement at different extents depending on the loading frequency and shift phase boundaries of AgNbO3, implying positive prospects of property engineering of energy storage materials by stress application.