Crystal structure and dielectric properties of Ln2Ti2SiO9 (Ln = Pr and Nd)

Abstract

Low loss and high dielectric constant materials are essentially desired for wide varieties of applications in electronics and communication technology. Herein the structure and dielectric properties of two titanosilicates, Ln2Ti2SiO9, for Ln = Pr3+ and Nd3+ are reported. Both materials are isostructural and have layered structure with layers of [LnTi2SiO9]3- and Ln3+ ions. Electrical properties of both have been analyzed by using the temperature and frequency dependent permittivity, loss, conductivity and modulus data. At room temperature, appreciable relative permittivity (35 for Nd2Ti2SiO9 and 22 for Pr2Ti2SiO9 over the frequency range of 100Hz to 5MHz) and low dielectric loss (like 0.007-0.03 at 100Hz and 10-4-10-3 at 1MHz). Analysis of dc-conductivity data of both compounds indicate that the conduction in both materials is due to the correlated barrier hopping (CBH) of polarons. The relaxation peak of modulus spectra indicates more non-Debye like relaxation in Pr2Ti2SiO9 than that in Nd2Ti2SiO9, and that is possibly due to increased correlation in the dynamics of hopping polarons in Pr2Ti2SiO9.