Dielectric capacitors are widely used in pulsed power electronic devices due to their ultrahigh power densities and extremely fast charge/discharge speed. To achieve enhanced energy storage density, maximum polarization (Pmax) and breakdown strength (Eb) need to be improved simultaneously. However, these two key parameters are inversely correlated. In this study, order–disorder transition induced polar nanoregions have been achieved in PbZrO3 thin films by making use of the low-energy ion implantation, enabling us to overcome the trade-off between high polarizability and breakdown strength, which leads to the tripling of the energy storage density from 20.5 to 62.3 J/cm3 as well as the great enhancement of breakdown strength. This approach could be extended to other dielectric oxides to improve the energy storage performance, providing a new pathway for tailoring the oxide functionalities.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.