Unique dielectric tunability of Pb0.99[(Zr0.6Sn0.4)0.94Ti0.06]0.98Nb0.02O3 antiferroelectric ceramics

The tunable dielectric properties of Pb0.99[(Zr0.6Sn0.4)0.94Ti0.06]0.98Nb0.02O3 antiferroelectric ceramics were investigated, and high relative tunability of 49% was obtained at 25 °C under a low bias electric field of 50 kV/cm. Abrupt changes and a significant hysteresis in dielectric constant and dielectric loss against bias electric field were observed, which are very different from the previously reported antiferroelectric materials. The unique dielectric tunability is attributed to the square-shaped double hysteresis loop and indicates the possible applications in some special tunable devices, such as an electrically-controlled switch. Pb0.99[(Zr0.6Sn0.4)0.94Ti0.06]0.98Nb0.02O3 ceramics also exhibit unique dielectric tunability at −5 °C. Abrupt changes in dielectric constant and dielectric loss were observed when the bias electric field increased to 31 kV/cm for the fresh sample, which is similar to the antiferroelectric-like dielectric tunability at 25 °C. However, the dielectric tunability was ferroelectric-like in the following measurement. This response is consistent with the hysteresis loop and can be explained by the electric field-assisted irreversible antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition.