Electrocaloric Response of the Ferroelectrics

Monodomain contributions to the electrocaloric effect in mechanically free (bulk) and laterally strained (thin film) BaTiO3 are computed using a thermodynamic analysis. We show that the intrinsic electrocaloric coefficient at electric fields sufficient to destroy the discontinuous ferroelectric phase transition results in an adiabatic temperature change of 8 K that agrees closely with the giant value of 12 K recently observed experimentally for lead zirconate titanate thin films [Science 311, 1270 (2006)]. It is also demonstrated that the magnitude, the temperature-dependence and the maxima temperature (where the effect is maximum) of the electrocaloric response can be modified as a function of misfit strain.