Electrocaloric effect in PLZT ceramics

Abstract
The electrocaloric effect in rhombohedral PLZT ceramics is studied as function of applied field and temperature. The results obtained are consistent with the general idea of the existence of an intermediate state of mixed polar and nonpolar regions in the interval of the diffuse phase transition. The step-like change of the temperature at the field-induced first-order phase transition in the temperature range close to Tt corresponds to an entropy jump of 0.18 × 10-2 J/cm3 · deg.