Theoretical investigations on electrocaloric properties of (111)-oriented PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3 single crystal

Abstract

The electrocaloric (EC) effect accompanied with the ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition in (111)-oriented PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3 (PMN) is investigated. It is shown that the largest change ΔT is 0.37 K in 3 kV/cm electric field shift near the Curie temperature of 221 K; that is, the cooling ΔT per unit field (MV/m) is 1.23×10−6 m·K/V. This value is significantly larger, and comparable with the value of 0.254×10−6 m·K/V for PbZr0.95Ti0.05O3 thin film under larger electric field shift ΔE = 30 kV/cm. Thus, the EC effect of (111) PMN single crystal provides cooling solutions at low temperatures, and opens more opportunities for practical application in cooling systems.