Influence of electric field on the phenomenological coefficient and electrocaloric strength in ferroelectrics

As the electric field can affect the polarization and dielectric constant, the phenomenological coefficient <i>a</i>₀ is an implicit function of electric field. The phenomenological coefficient <i>a</i>₀ is determined by the polarization and the reciprocal of permittivity, and a nonlinear function of electric field in the ferroelectric phase regime. In the paraelectric phase regime, however, <i>a</i>₀ is merely subjected to the reciprocal of permittivity, and also a nonlinear function of electric field. In this paper, we investigate the electric field dependence of phenomenological coefficient in ferroelectric copolymers, terpolymers and Ba_0.85Ca_0.05Sr_0.1TiO₃ ceramics. It is indicated that the phenomenological coefficient increases with the increasing electric field, the maximum value is obtained to be about 2 times the original value. Moreover, the electrocaloric strength is used to measure the magnitude of electrocaloric effect of electrocaloric materials in an external electric field. It can be used to find out novel and efficient electrocaloric materials through studying the electrocaloric strength. Based on the thermodynamic theory, the analytical expression of electrocaloric strength is deduced. It is found that the phenomenological coefficient, phase transition, specific heat capacity, and permittivity versus temperature peak value at the phase transition temperature have a clear influence on the electrocaloric strength. The expression can be applied to 1^st order, 2^nd order phase transition materials and relaxor ferroelectrics.