Effect of 90° Domain Walls and Thermal Expansion Mismatch on the Pyroelectric Properties of Epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 Thin Films

We have investigated the contribution of 90 degrees domain walls and thermal expansion mismatch to pyroelectricity in PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films. The first phenomenological models to include extrinsic and secondary contributions to pyroelectricity in polydomain films predict significant extrinsic contributions (arising from the temperature-dependent motion of domain walls) and large secondary contributions (arising from thermal expansion mismatch between the film and the substrate). Phase-sensitive pyroelectric current measurements are applied to model thin films for the first time and reveal a dramatic increase in the pyroelectric coefficient with increasing fraction of in-plane oriented domains and thermal expansion mismatch. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.257602