Thickness-dependent electrocaloric effect of Pb0.82Ba0.08La0.10(Zr0.90Ti0.10)O3 antiferroelectric thick films

• Good dielectric property and low leakage current were obtained in PBLZT AFE films.
• Curie temperature and diffuseness were changed with the thickness increasing.
• Large ΔT values are achieved in a wide range of temperature near room temperature.

Effects of thickness on dielectric properties and electrocaloric effect (ECE) of Pb0.82Ba0.08La0.10(Zr0.90Ti0.10)O3 (PBLZT) antiferroelectric (AFE) thick films were systematically studied. As the thickness was increased, the Curie temperature of the thick films was increased, while their diffusing behavior was reduced. A giant reversible adiabatic temperature change of ΔT = 25.1 °C at room temperature was achieved in the PBLZT AFE thick film with a thickness of 1.0 μm. At the same time, the 1.0-μm-thick film had an electrocaloric coefficient of ΔT/ΔE = 0.036 K cm/kV and a refrigeration efficiency of COP = 6.0 at room temperature. In addition, all samples had a low leakage current density of <10−6 A/cm2 at room temperature. These results indicated that the PBLZT AFE thick films could be used for applications in solid-cooling devices by properly controlling their thickness.