Large electrocaloric effect induced by the multi-domain to mono-domain transition in ferroelectrics

The electrocaloric properties of multi-domain ferroelectrics are investigated using a phase field model. The simulation results show that the extrinsic contribution from the multi-domain to mono-domain transition driven by temperature significantly enhances the electrocaloric response. Due to the abrupt decrease of polarization in the direction of electric field during the domain transition, a large adiabatic temperature change is achieved for the ferroelectrics subjected to a tensile strain. Furthermore, the domain transition temperature can be tuned by external strains as the phase transition temperature. A compressive strain decreases the domain transition temperature while a tensile strain increases it. The large temperature change associated with the domain transition provides guidance to engineer domain structures by strain to optimize the electrocaloric properties of ferroelectric materials below the Curie temperature. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.