Electrocaloric effect in KH$_2$PO$_4$ family crystals

TL;DR

This paper investigates the electrocaloric effect in KH$_2$PO$_4$ family crystals using a modified proton ordering model that accounts for dipole moment dependence, achieving good experimental agreement.

Contribution

It introduces a modified proton ordering model incorporating dipole moment dependence and applies it to analyze the electrocaloric effect in KH$_2$PO$_4$ crystals.

Findings

Good agreement with experimental data

Describes smearing of phase transition under electric field

Calculates polarization and electrocaloric effect

Abstract

The proton ordering model for the KH$_{2}$PO$_{4}$ type ferroelectrics is modified by taking into account the dependence of the effective dipole moments on the proton ordering parameter. Within the four-particle cluster approximation we calculate the crystal polarization and explore the electrocaloric effect. Smearing of the ferroelectric phase transition by a longitudinal electric field is described. A good agreement with experiment is obtained.