Electrical properties of niobium doped Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂-SrBi₄Ti₄O₁₅ intergrowth ferroelectrics

Bismuth layer structured ferroelectrics (BLSFs) have attracted much attention because of their potential applications in non-volatile ferroelectric random access memories and high temperature piezoelectric. They are very attractive for these applications due to their fatigue free nature and environment friendly lead-free composition. BLSF crystal structure has layers of bismuth oxide and pseudo perovskite block stacked alternately along their c-direction, For commercial application, numerous efforts have been made to improve the electrical properties of BLSFs. Some effective approaches are: (i) doping at A-site, (ii) high valentcation doping at B-site and (iii) formation of intergrowth between different BLSFs. The intergrowth BLSFs are consist of regular stacking of one half the unit cell of m-member structure and one half the unit cell of (m+1) member BLSF structure along their c-axis. In this report, Nb-doped Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂-SrBi₄Ti₄O₁₅ intergrowth ceramics have been prepared by modified oxalate route. XRD phase analysis confirmed the formation of single phase compound. Nb-doping does not affect the basic crystal structure of the intergrowth. SEM micrographs showed that the grain size of the ceramics decreases with Nb-doping. The temperature dependence of dielectric constant and losses was investigated in the temperature range 30 to 800℃ and frequency range 1 kHz to 1 MHz. With Nb-doping, the T_c of the ferroelectrics reduces and peak permittivity increases. Doping also introduces small relaxor behaviour in the ferroelectrics. The dc conductivity of the ceramics decreases with doping. The remnant polarization (Pr) of the intergrowth ferroelectrics is increased with Nb doping. (author)