Low polarization switching in Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) Ceramics

Usually to study the polarization reversal phenomenon, the applied field is varied gradually and the polarization is measured which give the hysteresis P–E loop. In many applications, such as in memory components, a fast switching (less than 100 ns) is required. For a fast switching the applied field must generally be of order 2EC, where Ec is the coercive field. In this case the polarization is balanced between saturation polarizations + ps and − Ps very quickly. Thus it is difficult to study the polarization reversal evolution. In this paper we have chosen to apply on poled PZT ceramic samples a depolarizing field slightly greater than the coercive field which permits a low polarization switching.