Nanosized Multistate Configurations of Relaxor‐Like Antiferroelectric Revealed by Atomic‐Scale In Situ Electron Microscopy

Abstract

AbstractAntiferroelectric materials have garnered significant attention for their potential applications in high‐power capacitors. Among the four technically important types of ferroelectric states‐classical ferroelectric, relaxor ferroelectric, antiferroelectric, and relaxor antiferroelectric‐the first three have well‐defined physical pictures, while the fourth remains contentious. Here, atomic‐scale in situ scanning transmission electron microscopy is demonstrated to provide a clear resolution to this long‐standing issue. The temperature‐dependent configurational evolution during the transition from room‐temperature classical antiferroelectric to high‐temperature relaxor‐like antiferroelectric in (Pb,La)(Zr,Sn,Ti)O3 materials is directly observed. The nanosized multistate configurations formed during transformation, which encompass antiferroelectric, quasi‐paraelectric, and ferroelectric nanoregions, are responsible for the slim double hysteresis loops characteristic of relaxor‐like antiferroelectric. These findings offer new guidelines for validating the physical models essential for the development of high‐performance relaxor‐like antiferroelectrics.