Fig. 3
Depolarization dynamics. a Transients of the electric displacement of a Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) ferroelectric capacitor (Cferro = 14 nF) with various serial capacitors. The circuit and transient measurement are schematically described in the inset. The transients presented are for Cser as 6 µF, 330 and 110 nF, corresponding to Cferro/Cser of 0.006, 0.04, and 0.1, respectively. The symbols (*, ×, ο) mark the value of electric displacement, i.e. the retained polarization, at the end of the transient for each capacitance ratio. b Reading the retained polarization by measuring the ferroelectric-only capacitor after depolarization. The measurement circuit is shown in the inset. The symbols (*, ×, ο) mark the values of the electric displacement at the end of the transients shown in a, demonstrating that the value of D at the start of the first loop is similar to the retained polarization. c Displacement and d internal field as a function of time for poly(vinylidenefluoride–trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF–TrFE)]. The dynamics of the displacement, after a fast discharge of the induced polarization shown by the double arrow, are given by the solid lines, as obtained by numerical calculation (Supplementary Note 4). The set, discharged and final states are highlighted by the purple, green, and black circles, respectively. Cferro of P(VDF–TrFE) here is 260 pF and the curves correspond to serial capacitances of 4.4 nF and 890 pF, with the respective capacitance ratios indicated
