Lead-free relaxor thin films with huge energy density and low loss for high temperature applications

We report record energy storage density (>80 J cm−3) in Pb-free relaxor ferroelectrics based on Mn-doped BiFeO3–BaTiO3 thin films. Rapid interval deposition was used to impose layer-by-layer growth improving crystallinity and lowering unwanted defects concentration. The growth and Mn doping produced an order of magnitude lower leakage, with strongly reduced dielectric loss (from room temperature to >300 °C, and 100 Hz to 1 MHz), e.g. by a factor of 5 at 225 °C and 25 kHz. At room temperature (RT), the dielectric breakdown strength increased by a factor of 1.5 to >3000 kV cm−1 while the dielectric constant remained flat, at ~1000 from RT to 350 °C. The films perform better than competing materials (e.g. PZT and SrTiO3-based) while being Pb-free and while operating up to 350 °C, which SrTiO3-based systems do not. Our work gives considerable promise for high energy and power density capacitors for harsh environments. [Display omitted] •A record energy storage density >80 J cm−3 with an efficiency of almost 90%.•Pb-free relaxor ferroelectrics thin films, from a single PLD BiFeO3–BaTiO3 target.•A high permittivity and low loss has been obtained up to high temperatures of >300 °C.•Power density increased more than 5 × times compared to the other films.•Layer-by-layer growth gives high reproducibility facilitating large-scale production.