Switching kinetics in thick film and bulk lead lanthanum zirconate titanate ceramics

The fatigue effect and the time dependence of the current transient during polarization reversal in 8/65/35 lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) ceramics were studied as a function of the electric Geld. The comparison to the Avrami expression has revealed that the nucleation process in a thick PLZT film is constant during polarization reversal and the dimensionality of the domain growth is D similar to 0.5, indicating the existence of needlelike domains. Also, it was found that the dimensionality of the domain growth in bulk PLZT ceramics is D similar to 1.5 and that the nucleation process is latent during polarization reversal.