Low leakage current, enhanced energy storage, and fatigue endurance in room-temperature deposited (Pb_0.93La_0.07)(Zr_0.82Ti_0.18)O₃ thick films

This study reports the fabrication of manganese (Mn) doped antiferroelectric (AFE) thick films (thickness of ~ 2 μm) of (Pb_0.93La_0.07)(Zr_0.82Ti_0.18)O₃ (PLZT 7/82/18) at room temperature using aerosol deposition (AD) technique without any additional thermal treatment. The Mn-doped PLZT 7/82/18 AD thick films demonstrate excellent energy storage and electrical properties despite being fabricated at room temperature. The dielectric properties of the PLZT AD thick films were investigated across a frequency range of 100 Hz–1 MHz and a temperature range of 25–250 ^oC. The Mn-doped PLZT AD thick films exhibit a dielectric constant of ~ 108, low dielectric loss of 0.0211, and high-temperature stability of ~ 5.5% (from 1 kHz to 1 MHz). The bipolar P-E and I-E hysteresis loops of the PLZT AD thick films do not show an AFE behavior, however, resemble the paraelectric/dielectric type of loops. The Mn-doped PLZT AD thick films exhibit high dielectric breakdown strength (DBS) of ~ 5420 kV/cm, energy-storage density (ESD) of ~ 38.7 W/cm³, with high energy efficiency of ~ 71%. Additionally, the Mn-doped PLZT AD thick films demonstrate a low leakage current and excellent fatigue properties, as indicated by the obtained polarization, DBS, ESD, and energy efficiency after 10⁸ cycles.