Dielectric properties of niobium and lanthanum doped lead barium zirconate titanate relaxor ferroelectrics

The lead barium zirconate titanate (PBZT) relaxor ferroelectrics are ideal for high voltage capacitor applications due to their high dielectric constant, stability under DC bias, and temperature stability. In this study the composition ( Pb0.65Ba0.35)(Zr0.70Ti0.30) O-3 was selected as the base composition. It exhibited typical relaxor characteristics such as frequency dispersion and diffuse phase transition. The dielectric constant is similar to 6000 at room temperature and remains almost constant under electric field as high as 20 kV/cm. To further enhance the dielectric properties, various amounts of niobium oxide and lanthanum oxide dopants were added to the base PBZT to alter the defect structure and hence the dielectric properties. It was found that the dielectric constant of 1% Nb-doped samples was increased by 20 - 25% while maintaining similar voltage stability. This increase was attributed to the abnormal grain growth in the Nb-doped sample, and the correlation between microstructure and dielectric constant was drawn through a grain size study. The La addition only caused a monotonic decrease of dielectric constant and slightly improved voltage stability.