Structural and scaling behavior in relaxor ferroelectric BZT ceramic doped with rare earth europium ion

Rare earth Eu³⁺ ion doped barium zirconate titanate (Ba_1-xEu_2x/3Zr_0.3Ti_0.7)O₃ (x = 0.00 - 0.10) ceramics were prepared by using the solid state reaction route and the effect of doping concentration on structural and dielectric relaxation behavior of the ceramics were studied. The structural and microstructural analyses of the materials were done by using X-ray diffraction, Raman and SEM techniques respectively. Sharp and well defined diffraction peaks revealed that all the materials are of single phase cubic perovskite structure with space group Pm-3m. Microstructural study on the sintered pellets revealed that the grain size decreases initially with Eu concentrations followed by increasing trends in higher concentrations. Raman spectroscopic study revealed that the substitution of Ba²⁺ ion by Eu³⁺ ions shifted the Raman active modes towards higher energy side, which indicated that these materials undergo an increase in average cubicity with increase in Eu³⁺ ions concentrations. The signature of relaxor behavior and diffuse types of phase transition were detected by monitoring the relative intensity of Raman features. The broadening in the dielectric permittivity and the frequency dependence behavior with increase in frequency indicated a relaxor behavior in these materials. Lorentzian type law was used to describe the dielectric relaxation behavior over wide range of temperature.