Rate dependant heat generation in single cycle of domain switching of lead zirconate titanate via in-situ spontaneous temperature measurement

Cyclic electric loading induced heat in ferroelectric materials may affect their applications. In this letter, an in-situ non-contact and full-field experimental method was proposed to monitor temperature with a 50 Hz infrared thermal camera. Test results in one bipolar electric loading cycle showed that the heat generation occurs as soon as polarization reversal finishes and is on the order of 500 x 10(3) J/m(3). Due to the competition between the rate-dependent domain switching and the heat convention, it is interesting to note that under some specific electric loadings, heat generation first slightly increases and then decreases with the frequency, and even approaches zero at 200 Hz. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.