Nonlinear dielectric response of lead zirconate titanate in the microwave range

The paper studies the nonlinear electrical response of dispersed-crystalline lead zirconate titanate powders (PbZr[Formula: see text]Ti[Formula: see text]O 3 , PZT) in the microwave range (8.2–12.4[Formula: see text]GHz). The main attention is paid to the influence of temperature and incident wave power on the dielectric properties of the material, especially near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) and phase transitions (PTs). The experiments were carried out using a waveguide measuring cell and a vector network analyzer. The results showed that the permittivity and losses of the material depend on the frequency, temperature and microwave power. A broad relaxation maximum of losses was found at ∼12[Formula: see text]GHz, which shifts to the low-frequency region upon heating. It is assumed that this maximum is due to the presence of several competing polarization mechanisms associated with the reorientation of dipoles in the B sublattice. At higher powers (>5[Formula: see text]dBm), nonlinear effects were observed, including the disappearance of the relaxation maximum, which may be due to local heating and destabilization of dipole configurations. The obtained data emphasize the importance of taking into account cooperative interactions and structural transitions when analyzing the dielectric response of PZT in the microwave range.