Tuning of dielectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric properties of 0.715Bi(0.5)Na(0.5)TiO(3)-0.065BaTiO(3)-0.22SrTiO(3) ceramic by internal clamping

This study systematically investigates the phenomenon of internal clamping in ferroelectric materials through the formation of glass-ceramic composites. Lead-free 0.715Bi(0.5)Na(0.5)TiO(3)-0.065BaTiO(3)-0.22SrTiO(3) (BNT-BT-ST) bulk ferroelectric ceramic was selected for the course of investigation. 3BaO - 3TiO(2) - B2O3 (BTBO) glass was then incorporated systematically to create sintered samples containing 0%, 2%, 4% and 6% glass (by weight). Upon glass induction features like remnant polarization, saturation polarization, hysteresis losses and coercive field could be varied as a function of glass content. Such effects were observed to benefit derived applications like enhanced energy storage density similar to 174 k J/m(3) to similar to 203 k J/m(3) and pyroelectric coefficient 5.7x10(-4) Cm-2K-1 to 6.8x10(-4) Cm-2K-1 by incorporation of 4% glass. Additionally, BNT-BT-ST depolarization temperature decreased from 457K to 431K by addition of 4% glass content. Glass incorporation could systematically increases diffuse phase transition and relaxor behavior temperature range from 70 K to 81K and 20K to 34 K, respectively when 6% and 4% glass content is added which indicates addition of glass provides better temperature stability. The most promising feature was observed to be that of dielectric response tuning. It can be also used to control (to an extent) the dielectric behavior of the host ceramic. Dielectric permittivity and losses decreased from 1278 to 705 and 0.109 to 0.107 for 6% glass, at room temperature. However this reduction in dielectric constant and loss increases pyroelectric figures of merit (FOMs) for high voltage responsivity (F-v) high detectivity (F-d) and energy harvesting (F-e) from 0.018 to 0.037 m(2)C(-1), 5.89 to 8.85 mu Pa-1/2 and 28.71 to 61.55 Jm(-3)K(-2), respectively for 4% added ceramic-glass at room temperature. Such findings can have huge implications in the field of tailoring ferroelectric response for application specific requirements. (C) 2015 Author(s).

Origin of giant dielectric constant and conductivity behavior in Zn1-xMgxO (0 <= x <= 0.1) ceramics

Zn1-xMgxO ( <= x <= 0.1) ceramics were fabricated by conventional solid-state reaction of co-precipitated zinc oxide and magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles. Structural and morphological properties of the fabricated ceramics were studied using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic analysis. The dielectric measurements of the ceramics were carried out as a function of frequency and temperature respectively. Interestingly, Mg doped ZnO (MZO) samples exhibited colossal dielectric response (similar to 1 x 10(4) at 1 kHz) with Debye like relaxation. The detailed dielectric studies and thermal analyses showed that the unusual dielectric response of the samples were originated from the defected grain and grain boundary (GB) conductivity relaxations due to the absorbed atmospheric water vapor (moisture). Impedance spectroscopy was employed to determine the defected grain and GB resistances, capacitances and which supported Maxwell-Wagner type relaxation phenomena. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dielectric investigation of high-k yttrium copper titanate thin films

We report on the first dielectric investigation of high-k yttrium copper titanate thin films, which were demonstrated to be very promising for nanoelectronics applications. The dielectric constant of these films is found to vary from 100 down to 24 (at 100 kHz) as a function of deposition conditions, namely oxygen pressure and film thickness. The physical origin of such variation was investigated in the framework of universal dielectric response and Cole-Cole relations and by means of voltage dependence studies of the dielectric constant. Surface-related effects and charge hopping polarization processes, strictly dependent on the film microstructure, are suggested to be mainly responsible for the observed dielectric response. In particular, the bulky behaviour of thick films deposited at lower oxygen pressure evolves towards a more complex and electrically heterogeneous structure when either the thickness decreases down to 50 nm or the films are grown under high oxygen pressure.

Dielectric investigation of high-k yttrium copper titanate thin films

We report on the first dielectric investigation of high-k yttrium copper titanate thin films, which were demonstrated to be very promising for nanoelectronics applications. The dielectric constant of these films is found to vary from 100 down to 24 (at 100 kHz) as a function of deposition conditions, namely oxygen pressure and film thickness. The physical origin of such variation was investigated in the framework of universal dielectric response and Cole-Cole relations and by means of voltage dependence studies of the dielectric constant. Surface-related effects and charge hopping polarization processes, strictly dependent on the film microstructure, are suggested to be mainly responsible for the observed dielectric response. In particular, the bulky behaviour of thick films deposited at lower oxygen pressure evolves towards a more complex and electrically heterogeneous structure when either the thickness decreases down to 50 nm or the films are grown under high oxygen pressure.

Effective response of nonlinear composite under external AC and DC electric field

A perturbation method is used to study effective response of nonlinear Kerr composites, which are subject to the constitutive relation of electric displacement and electric field, D-alpha = epsilon(alpha)E + chi(alpha)vertical bar E vertical bar(2)E. Under the external AC and DC electric field E-app = E-a (1 + sinwt), the effective nonlinear responses and local potentials are induced by the cubic nonlinearity of Kerr materials at all harmonics. As an example in three dimensions, we have investigated this kind of nonlinear composites with spherical inclusions embedded in a host. At all harmonic frequencies, the potentials in inclusion and host regions are derived. Furthermore, the formulae of the effective linear and nonlinear responses are given in the dilute limit.

Effective dielectric responses of graded composites of the particles with a general power-law gradation profile

The effective dielectric response of graded spherical composites having general power-law gradient inclusions is investigated under a uniform applied electric field, where the dielectric gradation profile of the spherical inclusions is modeled by the equation epsilon(i) (r) = c(b+r)(k). Analytical solutions of the local electrical potentials are derived in terms of hyper-geometric function and the effective dielectric response of the graded composites is predicted in the dilute limit. From our result, the local potentials of graded spherical composites having both simple power-law dielectric profile epsilon(i)(r) = cr(k) and linear dielectric profile epsilon(i) (r) = c(b+r) are derived exactly by taking the limits b --> 0 and k --> 1, respectively. In the dilute limit, our exact result is used to test the validity of differential effective dipole approximation (DEDA) for estimating the effective response of graded spherical composites, and it is shown that the DEDA is in excellent agreement with exact result. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dielectric responses of graded cylindrical composites

The effective dielectric responses of linear composites with graded cylindrical particles are investigated under an external uniform electric field. As an example, with the Kummer function, we have obtained the analytical solutions of electric potentials of graded composites with a cylindrical inclusion particle of dielectric function profile epsilon(i) = cr(k)e(betar), where r is the inside distance of a point in cylindrical particle from the original point of cylindrical coordinates. In the dilute limit, the effective dielectric response is derived by means of the mean field method. For larger volume fraction, we have estimated the dielectric response of the graded composites with an effective medium approximation. Furthermore, from our results, we have discussed the effective responses of graded composites for power-law and exponential dielectric function profiles, respectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dielectric responses of anisotropic graded granular composites having arbitrary inclusion shapes

The transformation field method (TFM) originated from Eshelby's transformation field theory is developed to estimate the effective permittivity of an anisotropic graded granular composite having inclusions of arbitrary shape and arbitrary anisotropic grading profile. The complicated boundary-value problem of the anisotropic graded composite is solved by introducing an appropriate transformation field within the whole composite region. As an example, the effective dielectric response for an anisotropic graded composite with inclusions having arbitrary geometrical shape and arbitrary grading profile is formulated. The validity of TFM is tested by comparing our results with the exact solution of an isotropic graded composite having inclusions with a power-law dielectric grading profile and good agreement is achieved in the dilute limit. Furthermore, it is found that the inclusion shape and the parameters of the grading profile can have profound effect on the effective permittivity at high concentrations of the inclusions. It is pointed out that TFM used in this paper can be further extended to investigate the effective elastic, thermal, and electroelastic properties of anisotropic graded granular composite materials.

Local-field and excitonic effects in the optical response of alpha-alumina

This paper introduces key ingredients of the dielectric response of a-alumina that go beyond an independent-particle (IP) treatment of the valence-electron excitations. The optical-response functions were calculated from first-principles both at the Bethe-Salpeter and the random-phase approximation (RPA) levels. Excitonic effects obtained within the Bethe-Salpeter framework were found essential for reproducing the low-energy part of the experimental spectra (below 15 eV) and the bound exciton in particular. For higher energies, local-field effects introduced through the RPA modified considerably the IP results and provided a satisfactory account of the reflectivity spectra and of the position and shape of the dominant bulk plasmon resonance in the electron energy-loss spectra.

Dielectric and impedance properties of Nd3/2Bi3/2Fe5O12 ceramics

The polycrystalline sample of Nd3/2Bi3/2Fe5O12 was prepared by a high- temperature solid-state reaction technique. Preliminary X-ray structural analysis exhibits the formation of a single-phase tetragonal structure at room temperature. Microstructural analysis by scanning electron microscopy shows that the sintered sample has well defined grains. These grains are distributed uniformly throughout the surface of the sample. Detailed studies of dielectric response at various frequencies and temperatures exhibit a dielectric anomaly at 400 A degrees C. The electrical properties (impedance, modulus and conductivity) of the material were studied using a complex impedance spectroscopy technique. These studies reveal a significant contribution of grain and grain boundary effects in the material. The frequency dependent plots of modulus and the impedance loss show that the conductivity relaxation is of non-Debye type. Studies of electrical conductivity with temperature demonstrate that the compound exhibits Arrhenius-type of electrical conductivity. Study of ac conductivity with frequency suggests that the material obeys Jonscher's universal power law.

Phase transition and dielectric properties of La-doped Pb(Zr, Ti)O-3 antiferroelectric ceramics

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dielectric investigations in Sr0.75Ba0.25Nb2O6 relaxor ferroelectric thin films

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Mesoscopic structure evidenced by AC dielectric nonlinearities in Sr(0.75)Ba(0.25)Nb(2)O(6) relaxor ferroelectric thin films

The AC electric field and temperature dependences of the dielectric permittivity for strontium barium niobate (Sr(0.75)Ba(0.25)Nb(2)O(6)) relaxor ferroelectric thin films have been investigated. The results indicate the existence of a true mesoscopic structure evidenced by the nonlinear dielectric response of these films, which is similar to those observed for bulk relaxor ferroelectrics. A tendency for a temperature dependent crossover from a linear to a quadratic behaviour of the dielectric nonlinearity was observed, indicating an evolution from paraelectric to glass-like behaviour on cooling the samples towards the freezing temperature transition.

Effects of lanthanum modification on dielectric properties of Pb(Zr-0.90,Ti-0.10)O-3 ceramics: enhanced antiferroelectric stability

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Domain wall contribution to dielectric and piezoelectric responses in 0.65Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)-0.35PbTiO(3) ferroelectric ceramics

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)