Frequency dependence of ferroelectric fatigue in PLZT ceramics

Electric induced fatigue in ferroelectric PLZT ceramics was investigated. The fatigue occurred with the increasing of accumulative switching cycles in samples. The polarization decreased with the development of fatigue. At the same time, the piezoelectric properties also degraded during the process of ferroelectric fatigue. The different fatigue behaviors were observed in PLZT ceramics when processed under different frequencies of applied electric field, despite the same magnitude. The samples can be easily fatigued at low frequency while hardly fatigued at high frequency. The phenomenon was explained according to the dynamic behavior of ferroelectric domains during their responce to the applied electric field.