Enhanced energy density with a wide thermal stability in epitaxial Pb0.92La0.08Zr0.52Ti0.48O3 thin films

High-qualityepitaxialPb0.92La0.08Zr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PLZT)films of thickness of ∼880 nm were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition on (001) Nb doped SrTiO3 (Nb:STO) substrates. Besides a confirmation of theepitaxial relationship [100]PLZT//[100]Nb:STO and (001)PLZT//(001)Nb:STO using X-ray diffraction, a transmission electron microscopy study has revealed a columnarstructure across thefilm thickness. The recoverableenergy density (Wrec) of theepitaxial PLZTthin film capacitors increases linearly with the appliedelectric field and the best value of ∼31 J/cm3 observed at 2.27 MV/cm is considerably higher by 41% than that of thepolycrystalline PLZTfilm of a comparable thickness. In addition to the highWrec value, an excellentthermal stability as illustrated in a negligible temperature dependence of theWrec in the temperature range from room temperature to 180  °C is achieved. The enhancedWrec and thethermal stability are attributed to the reduced defects and grain boundaries inepitaxial PLZTthin films, making them promising forenergy storage applications that require both highenergy density, power density, and wide operation temperatures.

Source: Applied Physics Letters - November 8, 2016 Category: Physics Authors: Guangliang Hu, Chunrui Ma, Wei Wei, Zixiong Sun, Lu Lu, Shao-Bo Mi, Ming Liu, Beihai Ma, Judy Wu and Chun-lin Jia Source Type: research