Directly measured electrocaloric heat in multilayer capacitors of lead scandium tantalate

Isothermal electrocaloric (EC) heat is a key—but rarely reported—parameter for cooling applications. Here, we employ calorimetry with large-area Peltiers (10 × 10 mm2) to study a multilayer capacitor (MLC) of well-ordered PbSc0.5Ta0.5O3 (PST) with a first-order ferroelectric phase transition. Our direct measurements of isothermal EC heat are consistent with complementary EC measurements of similar MLCs that display large EC effects, i.e., indirect EC measurements and direct measurements of adiabatic EC temperature change [Nair et al., Nature 575, 468 (2019)]. Using a field of 7.9 V μm−1, the EC heat associated with the electrically active PST peaks at 11 MJ m−3 near 300 K. At higher temperatures, as one approaches the critical point, the transition is seen to become less first order. Separately, we find that the inactive PST compromises quasi-direct EC measurements. In the future, isothermal EC heat should be directly measured as a matter of routine.