Trirelaxor Ferroelectric Material with Giant Dielectric Permittivity over a Wide Temperature Range

Advanced ferroelectrics with a combination of large dielectric response and good temperature stability are crucial for many technologically important electronic devices and electrical storage/power equipment. However, the two key factors usually do not go hand in hand, and achieving high permittivity is normally at the expense of sacrificing temperature stability. This trade-off relation is eased but not fundamentally remedied using relaxor-type materials which are known to have a diffuse permittivity peak at their relaxor transition temperatures. Here, we report an anomalous trirelaxor phenomenon in a barium titanate system and show that it can lead to a giant dielectric permittivity (ε_r ≈ 18 000) over a wide temperature range (T_span ≈ 34K), which successfully overcomes a long-standing permittivity-stability trade-off. Moreover, the enhancement in the dielectric properties also yields a desired temperature-insensitive electrocaloric performance for the trirelaxor ferroelectrics. Microstructure characterization and phase-field simulations reveal a mixture of tetragonal, orthorhombic, and rhombohedral polar nanoregions over a broad temperature window in trirelaxor ferroelectrics, which is responsible for this combination of giant dielectric permittivity and good temperature stability. This finding provides an effective approach in designing advanced ferroelectrics with high performance and thermal stability.