Probing disorder in cubic pyrochlore Bi1.5Zn1.0Nb1.5O7 (BZN) thin films

The dielectric response of pulsed laser ablated Bi1.5Zn1.0Nb1.5O7 (BZN) thin films are investigated within the temperature range of 300–660 K and frequency range of 100 Hz–100 kHz. Thin film exhibited a strong dielectric relaxation behavior. A sharp rise in dielectric constant of BZN thin film at high temperatures is related to disorder in cation and anion lattices. Observed dielectric relaxation implies a redistribution of charges within the unit cell. This phenomenon suggests that the large change in dielectric constant is due to a dynamical rise of dipolar fluctuations in the unit cell. XPS spectra of BZN (A2B2O6O′) cubic pyrochlore, confirm that the relaxation corresponds to the ionic hopping among the A and O′ positions of several local potential minima. Barrier height for hopping is distributed between 0 and 0.94 eV. The O 1 s spectrum confirms presence of two types of oxygen in BZN thin film. The disorder in charge neutralized thin film is correlated with XPS spectra.