Dielectric properties and phase transitions of La2O3- and Sb2O3-doped barium strontium titanate ceramics

The dielectric properties and phase transition characteristics of La2O3- and Sb2O3-doped barium strontium titanate ceramics prepared by solid state route were investigated. The microstructure was identified by X-ray diffraction method and scanning electron microscope was also employed to observe the surface morphologies. It is found that (La, Sb)-codoped barium strontium titanate ceramics exhibit typical perovskite structure and the average grain size decreases dramatically with increasing the content of Sb2O3. Both La3+ ions and Sb3+ ions occupy the A-sites in perovskite lattice. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of barium strontium titanate based ceramics are obviously influenced by La2O3 as well as Sb2O3 addition content. The tetragonal-cubic phase transition of La2O3 modified barium strontium titanate ceramics is of second order and the Curie temperature shifts to lower value with increasing the La2O3 doping content. The phase transition of (La, Sb)-codoped barium strontium titanate ceramics diffuses and the deviation from Curie-Weiss law becomes more obvious with the increase in Sb2O3 concentration. The temperature corresponding to the dielectric constant maximum of (La, Sb)-codoped barium strontium titanate ceramics decreases with increasing the Sb2O3 content, which is attributed to the replacement of host ions by the Sb3+ ions.