Electrically Induced Inertial Dynamical Depolarization in Ferroelectric Capacitors for Nanosecond High-Voltage Pulse Generation, with a Calibrated Transmission-Line Reference Source

  • Mihai Ganciu Ferrodynamics Systems SRL, Bucharest, Romania

Abstract

Inertial polarization dynamics predicted by the Landau–Khalatnikov–Tani (LKT) model have long lacked direct experimental confirmation in bulk ferroelectrics. Here we report electrically induced inertial depolarization in pre-polarized BaTiO₃ and PZT capacitors at room temperature, producing sub-5-ns high-voltage pulses and underdamped oscillations in the 90–200 MHz range. When the applied field exceeds a critical dynamical threshold V_C, the polarization trajectory crosses the LKT separatrix, driving the system from a high-permittivity overdamped state into a low-permittivity underdamped regime with rapid release of stored polarization energy.

To distinguish this inertial mechanism from ordinary linear RLC ringing of the circuit, we performed a controlled comparison in which the ferroelectric element was replaced by a linear polypropylene-film capacitor of identical capacitance in a physically identical circuit. The linear control reproduces neither the voltage threshold nor the high-frequency transition, isolating the observed dynamics in the ferroelectric material rather than in the external circuit. The measurement chain was independently calibrated using a transmission-line pulse generator whose rise time was verified on a 1.5 GHz-bandwidth oscilloscope.

The resulting nanosecond pulses generate instantaneous reduced electric fields (E/N) above the ionization threshold for atmospheric gases, supporting projected applications in non-equilibrium plasma initiation, HPM source excitation, EMC/EMP testing, and nanosecond pulsed-electric-field (nsPEF) research. The compact, all-solid-state architecture operates repetitively up to 50 Hz without material degradation. These results provide experimental evidence of inertial depolarization dynamics in bulk ferroelectrics and establish a practical, calibrated platform for ultrafast high-voltage pulse generation.