Ferroelectriclike and pyroelectric behavior of CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

A ferroelectriclike hysteresis loop was obtained at room temperature for CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) ceramic. The remnant polarization and coercive field for 1100 degrees C/5 h sintered CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics were 0.063 mu C/cm(2) and 195 V/cm, respectively. Remnant polarization increased while the coercive field decreased with increase in sintering temperature/duration, implying that these were microstructural dependent. The observation of the hysteresis loop for CCTO ceramic was corroborated by its pyroelectric behavior, and the pyroelectric current at room temperature was -0.0028 nA. These findings were attributed to the presence of mixed-valent Ti ions, apart from off center displacement of Ti ions in TiO6 octahedra. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.