Dielectric properties of grain–grainboundary binary system

Abstract

Dielectric properties of grain–grainboundary binary system are analyzed theoretically and compared with unary system and classical Maxwell–Wagner (MW) polarization in binary system. It is found that MW polarization appears at higher frequency compared with intrinsic polarization for grain–grainboundary binary system, which is abnormal compared with classical dielectric theory. This dielectric anomaly is premised on the existence of electronic relaxation at grainboundary. The origin of giant dielectric constant of CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) ceramics is also investigated on the basis of the theoretical results. It is proposed that low frequency relaxation originates from electronic relaxation of oxygen vacancy at depletion layer, while high frequency relaxation comes from MW polarization. The results of this paper offer a quantitative identification of MW polarization from intrinsic polarization at grainboundary and a judgment of the mechanism and location of a certain polarization in grain–grainboundary binary system.