Dielectric hysteresis measurement in lossy ferroelectrics

Abstract

The conventional Sawyer-Tower circuit is modified so as to employ a quasi-DC electric-field rather than the 60Hz AC electric-field. By using this modified Sawyer-Tower method, the P-E hysteresis loop can be determined using 1 cycle of electric field, This technique enables the samples to avoid the joule heating induced breakdown, which often occurred under the cyclic load of the 60 Hz AC electric-field. As the quasi-DC electric-field was used in this study, it is very important to compensate the phase shift by the lossy conduction during measurement. A novel method of compensation is also to be presented.