Dielectric relaxation and conduction mechanism in Aurivillius ceramic Bi₅Ti₃FeO₁₅

Abstract

For this study, we synthesized Aurivillius Bi₅Ti₃FeO₁₅ ceramic using the generic solid-state reaction route and then performed room-temperature X-ray diffraction to confirm that the compound had a single phase with no impurities. The surface morphology of the prepared sample was observed to contain microstructural grains approximately 0.2–2 µm in size. The dielectric properties of the sample were determined as a function of frequency in a range of approximately 100 Hz to 1 MHz at various temperatures (303 K ≤ T ≤ 773 K). Nyquist plots of the impedance data were found to exhibit a semi-circular arc in the high-temperature region, which is explained by the equivalent electrical circuit (R ₁ C ₁)(R ₂ QC ₂), where R ₁ and R ₂ represent the resistances associated with the grains and grain boundaries, respectively, C ₁ and C ₂ are the respective capacitances, and Q is the constant phase element (CPE), which accounts for non-Debye type of behavior. Our results indicate that both the resistance and capacitance of the grain boundaries are more prominent than those of the grains. The alternating current (ac) conductivity data were analyzed based on the Jonscher universal power law, which indicated that the conduction process is dominated by the hopping mechanism. The calculated activation energies of the relaxation and conduction processes were very similar (0.32 to 0.53 eV), from which we conclude that the same type of charge carriers are involved in both processes.

Keywords

Nyquist plot / impedance spectroscopy / activation energy / ac conductivity / hopping

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