Abstract
Projectile impact techniques were used to introduce shocks into rectangular bars of the ferroelectric ceramic PZT 95/5. In these experiments the remanent polarization vector was perpendicular to the shock propagation vector. For shock amplitudes greater than 1.6 GPa the specimens were completely depoled, and the permittivity was independent of both the stress and electric fields and it had a value of 9 nF/m. These data indicate that a phase transformation to a nonferroelectric state had occurred. However, the characteristics of the high‐stress state are uncertain.