Low temperature ferroelectric behavior in morphotropic Pb (Zr_1−xTi_x)O₃

Abstract

We provide an insight into the switching of near‐morphotropic composition of PZT, using molecular dynamics simulations and electrical measurements. The simulations and experiments exhibit qualitatively similar hysteretic behavior of the polarization for different temperatures showing widening of the P‐E loops and the decrease in the coercive field toward high temperatures. Remarkably, we have shown that polarization switching at low temperatures occurs via polarization rotation, that is a fundamentally different mechanism from high‐temperature switching, which is nucleation driven.