Interactive microwave and structural studies of C–Er2Si2O7

Abstract

Abstract Er 2 Si 2 O 7 compound exists in three polymorphs, low temperature polymorph (type-B), monoclinic (type-C) and the high temperature monoclinic modification (type-D). The polymorphic Er 2 Si 2 O 7 is synthesized by solid state double sintering method. The crystal structure and surface morphology of the calcined samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electromagnetic properties are measured through network analyzer (Agilent 8722ET). The dc electrical characterization is also performed in the microwave region and electrical transport data are analyzed according to Mott’s variable-range hopping. The activation energy (Δ E = 0.119 ± 0.001 eV) is calculated from lnρ versus 1 /k B T plot. Furthermore, the microwave electromagnetic properties of the samples were also studied at the frequency range from 20 Hz to 3 GHz on room temperature. It can be observed that C-type Er 2 Si 2 O 7 exhibit dielectric dispersion where both e′ and e′′ decrease slightly with increasing frequency up to 2.43 GHz, and then a resonance occurs around 2.85 GHz. This is the first kind of measurement on C–Er 2 Si 2 O 7 as far as our knowledge goes.