High Electrocaloric Effect in Lead Scandium Tantalate Thin Films with Interdigitated Electrodes

Lead scandium tantalate, Pb(Sc,Ta)O(3), is an excellent electrocaloric material showing large temperature variations, good efficiency, and a broad operating temperature window. In form of multilayer ceramic capacitors integrated into a cooling device, the device can generate a temperature difference larger than 13 K. Here, we investigate Pb(Sc,Ta)O(3) in form of thin films prepared using the sol–gel chemical solution deposition method. We report the detailed fabrication process of high-quality films on various substrates such as c-sapphire and fused silica. The main originality of this research is the use of interdigitated top electrodes, enabling the application of very large electric fields in PST. We provide structural and electrical characterisation, as well as electrocaloric temperature variation, using the Maxwell relation approach. Films do not show a B-site ordering. The temperature variation from 7.2 to 15.7 K was measured on the Pb(Sc,Ta)O(3) film on a c-sapphire substrate under the electric field of 1330 kV/cm between 14.5 °C and 50 °C. This temperature variation is the highest reported so far in Pb(Sc,Ta)O(3) thin films. Moreover, stress seems to have an effect on the maximum permittivity temperature and thus electrocaloric temperature variation with temperature in Pb(Sc,Ta)O(3) films. Tensile stress induced by fused silica shifts the “transition” of Pb(Sc,Ta)O(3) to lower temperatures. This study shows the possibility for electrocaloric temperature variation tuning with stress conditions.