High pyroelectric power generation of 0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.3PbTiO3 single crystal

We report the pyroelectric power generation of a relaxor ferroelectric 0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.3PbTiO(3) (PMN-PT) single crystal. For a temperature variation rate of 0.5 K/s, the PMN-PT generated a closed-circuit current of 10 nA and an open-circuit voltage of 1.1 V at room temperature. The pyroelectric current and voltage of the PMN-PT single crystal were proportional to the temperature variation rate and were sharply enhanced near the structural phase-transition temperature. Additionally, the PMN-PT pyroelectric generator produced stable power for excessive thermal cycling and was highly sensitive to random thermal fluctuations. Our results indicate the potential importance of PMN-PT for high-power pyroelectric generator applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.