A Novel BiFeO3–BaTiO3–BaZrO3 Lead‐Free Relaxor Ferroelectric Ceramic with Low‐Hysteresis and Frequency‐Insensitive Large Strains

A novel (0.67− x )BiFeO 3 –0.33BaTiO 3 – x B aZrO 3 lead‐free relaxor ferroelectric ceramic was developed by a solid‐state reaction method. Measurements of temperature‐dependent dielectric permittivity and the polarization/strain hysteresis loops demonstrated an obvious evolution of dielectric relaxor behavior at room temperature (RT) from nonergodic to ergodic states. A significantly enhanced electrostrain of ~0.37% at 7 kV/mm with a relatively small hysteresis of ~39% and a low‐frequency sensitivity was found at x = 0.04, showing large potential for actuator applications. This was basically attributed to a rapid response of forward and backward switching between ergodic and ferroelectric phases owing to similar free energies and large local random fields.