Abstract
From studies of the influence of controlled introduction of defects into the Pb and O sub-lattices of PbZrO3 it was ascertained that marked changes are caused in the dielectric parameters and the transitions between the antiferroelectric and ferroelectric states and the ferroelectric and paraeiectric states. With increasing amount of defects the temperature range in which the ferroelectric state occurs is narrowed during the heating process and widened during the cooling process. An attempt has been made to explain the observed effects within the context of existing theoretical models.