The effect of composite configurations of Fe ionic spins on the dielectric properties in Sm-doped CeFeO3 ceramics

Abstract

The Sm-doping effect on the crystal structure, dielectric and magnetic properties of CeFeO3 ceramics are systemically investigated. A giant dielectric response with high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss at room temperature (RT) is observed in Ce0.5Sm0.5FeO3 compounds. The increase of the dielectric constant is attributed to the increase of the ratio of Fe2+/Fe3+ ionic contents due to the charge transfer between Ce3+ and Fe3+ ions induced by Sm doping. Besides, the starting temperature T1 of spin-reorientation transition from Γ4 (Gx, Ay, Fz) to Γ1 (Ax, Gy, Cz) increases with Sm doping, and even reaches to a higher one than RT. Meanwhile, composite spin configurations of Fe3+ ions containing Γ1 and/or Γ2 (Fx, Cy, Gz) are found at RT in 0.2≤x ≤ 0.5 samples (x is Sm doping level), besides Γ4 state, whose formation originates from the strengthening of the anisotropic exchange interactions between Fe3+ and Ce3+/Sm3+ spins and the coexistence of Ce- and Sm-rich regions caused by Sm doping. It is suggested that the combining and competing functions of the Fe2+-Fe3+ ferromagnetic double-exchange interaction related to the Fe2+ ionic content and the composite spin configurations of Fe3+ ions containing Γ1 and/or Γ2 dominate the dielectric loss of Ce1-xSmxFeO3 ceramics. The results provide a different view for the physical theory and adjustment of the dielectric properties for applications.