Electric fatigue of ceramic-polymer composite film under cyclic electric field

Electric fatigue under cyclic electric loading was characterized for 0-3 composite film with particles of barium titanate dispersed in poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) copolymer matrix. The data reveal that both remanant polarization and coercive field decrease as the cycle number increases. Scanning electron microscope observation and X-ray diffraction analysis were carried out to examine the morphology and microstructure change during the electric field cycling. On cyclic electric field, large quantities of flaw-like defects occur and the crystallites grow in size, leading to reduction of interfacial layers between the crystalline and amorphous regions. The relationship between the microstructure evolution and the polarization behavior is discussed.