An Unconventional Transient Phase with Cycloidal Order of Polarization in Energy-Storage Antiferroelectric PbZrO.

Antiferroelectric-based dielectric capacitors are receiving tremendous attention for their outstanding energy-storage performance and extraordinary flexibility in collecting pulsed powers. Nevertheless, the in situ atomic-scale structural-evolution pathway, inherently coupling to the energy storage process, has not been elucidated for the ultimate mechanistic understanding so far. Here, time- and atomic-resolution structural phase evolution in antiferroelectric PbZrO during storage of energy from the electron-beam illumination is reported.