Electrically Induced Inertial Dynamical Depolarization in Ferroelectric Capacitors for Nanosecond High-Voltage Pulse Generation

Electrically driven inertial polarization dynamics in ferroelectric capacitors have been predicted by the inertial Landau–Khalatnikov–Tani (LKT) model but remain rarely observed experimentally in bulk materials. Here we report electrically induced inertial depolarization in polarized ferroelectric capacitors operated at room temperature. When the applied electric field exceeds a critical dynamical threshold and the ferroelectric capacitor is fast discharged the polarization trajectory crosses a separatrix in the polarization phase space (P, Ṗ), producing a transition from an overdamped high-permittivity regime to an underdamped oscillatory regime with drastically reduced effective permittivity. This transition results in rapid release of stored polarization energy. Experiments performed with BaTiO₃ and PZT capacitors demonstrate nanosecond voltage pulses with amplitudes up to tens of kilovolts and rise times below 5 ns, accompanied by underdamped oscillations near 200 MHz. The results provide experimental evidence of inertial ferroelectric dynamics and suggest a compact mechanism for generating ultrafast high-voltage pulses using bulk ferroelectric elements.