High‐performance antiferroelectric ceramics via multistage phase transition

Abstract Lead‐based antiferroelectric (AFE) ceramics have attracted increasing interest in pulse power systems owing to their high‐energy storage and power densities. However, the single AFE–ferroelectric (FE) phase transition in conventional AFE materials usually leads to premature polarization saturation and low breakdown strength, which are disadvantageous to energy storage performance. In this study, high energy storage performance was achieved in Pb 0.94− x La 0.04 Ca x [Nb 0.02 (Zr 0.99 Ti 0.01 ) 0.975 ]O 3 (PLCNZT) AFE ceramics by constructing electric‐field‐induced multiple phase transitions. A maximum recoverable energy storage density of 12.15 J/cm 3 and a high energy efficiency of 85.4% were obtained for the PLCNZT ceramic with x = 0.03 at 420 kV/cm. These excellent properties are attributed to the AFE–FE Ⅰ‐FE Ⅱ multiple phase transitions induced by Ca 2+ doping, which effectively enhances the breakdown strength. This result indicates that field‐induced multiple phase transitions significantly improve the energy storage of AFE materials.