Abstract
It was found that thin films of barium-strontium niobate Sr \({}_{x}\) Ba \({}_{1-x}\) Nb \({}_{2}\) O \({}_{6}\) ,—(SBN x) obtained by RF sputtering on a silicon substrate with Cr electrodes demonstrate an abnormally high electric response under heating. This thermoelectric current in such films is proportional to the change in temperature, in contrast to the well-known pyroelectric effect, which is proportional to the derivative of temperature over time. It is shown that the magnitude of the thermally induced current is many times greater than the magnitude of the pyroelectric current, both under slow and rapid heating of the sample. It is shown that the ‘‘new response’’ is not pyroelectric, but is most likely due to an energy barrier due to the nonohmic nature of the electrodes.