Electron Emission from PLZT Ceramics Induced by Polarization Switching

Electron emission from ferroelectrics has attracted much interest recently. However, a diverse array of results and explanations have appeared due to experimental technique and sample variation. Two different compositions in the PLZT system, which have similar dielectric constant but different hysteretic behavior, were chosen for our study under the same experimental conditions: ferroelectric 8/65/35 and nonferroelectric 15/65/35. Strong electron emission was observed from PLZT 8/65/35, however, the emission intensity degraded rapidly due to electrode destruction. Comparatively, no emission signal was detected from 15/65/35, which can be interpreted as evidence that electron emission from the 8/65/35 ceramics was not the so-called “metaldielectric” emission. Other results and SEM micrographs also suggest that the dominant source of electron emission is due to ferroelectric emission, and not due to plasma effects