Direct and indirect analysis of the electrocaloric effect for lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate antiferroelectric ceramics

The electrocaloric effect is studied in lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate antiferroelectric ceramics by using direct and indirect methods. A maximum value for the temperature change (ΔT) is obtained around a critical electric field (the electric field which forces the antiferroelectric–ferroelectric phase switching). An abrupt change in the polarization occurs at that critical field, which provides an adiabatic increasing in the temperature of the material. The temperature dependence for ΔT shows a maximum value around 348 K, which could be related to the influence of the temperature on the relative stabilities for the ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases.