Electrical tuning of metastable dielectric constant of ferroelectric single crystals for low-power electronics

Electrical control of the dielectric constant in (011) [Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3](1−x)-[PbTiO3]x (PMN-PT, x ≈ 0.32) single crystal ferroelectric material is reported. It is demonstrated that the metastable dielectric constant value of (011) PMN-PT can be manipulated from approximately 3000 to 1000 by applying electric pulses of different amplitudes. These metastable properties are due to non-180° polarization reorientation within the ferroelectric crystals. Taking advantage of the tunable and metastable dielectric constant, a reconfigurable RC oscillator as well as a ferroelectric memory device is demonstrated. The reconfigurability of this ferroelectric capacitor and potential applications for low-power electronics are described.