Low temperature dielectric and conductivity relaxation studies on magnetoelectric Pb(Fe2/3W1/3)O3

Abstract

The single phase perovskite Pb(Fe2/3W1/3)O3 [PFW] was synthesized by modified low – temperature (sintering at 850°C) solid-state reaction. Rietveld refinement ofroom temperature (RT) X-ray diffraction (XRD) and neutron diffraction (ND) patterns of the samples confirm the single phase formation with cubic structure (Pm-3m). Surface morphology of the compounds was studied by Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and average grain size was estimated to be ∼2 µm. The RT dielectric properties of PFW ceramic are studied as a function of frequency from 100 - 1MHz. The temperature dependent (120 – 293K) dielectric properties were studied at few selected frequencies. We found the frequency dependent dielectric constant shows increasing trend with increase in temperature from 120 – 293K, with minimum dielectric loss. The frequency dependence of dielectric loss shows a maximum in between 10 Hz and 1 kHz, confirms the extrinsic phenomena like interfacial polarization due to space charge accumulation at grain boundaries. Impedance spectroscopy is used to study the electrical behaviour of PFW in the frequency range from 100 to 1MHz and in the temperature range from 120 - 293 K. The frequency-dependent electrical data are analysed by impedance formalisms and shows the relaxation (conduction) mechanism in the sample. We suggest this low temperature sintered PFW is a suitable candidate for the multilayer ceramic capacitorsandrelated negative temperature coefficient of resistance type (NTCR) behavior like that of semiconductors.