Asymmetric electrocaloric effects in PbSc0.5Ta0.5O3 on field application and removal.

Electrically driven thermal changes in PbSc0.5Ta0.5O3 bulk ceramics are investigated using temperature and electric-field dependent differential scanning calorimetry and infrared thermometry. On first application and removal of electric field, we find asymmetries in the magnitude of isothermal entropy change $\Delta$ S and adiabatic temperature change $\Delta$ T, due to hysteresis. On subsequent field cycling, we find further asymmetries in the magnitude of $\Delta$ T due to non-linearity in the isofield legs of entropy-temperature plots.