Relaxor-like ferroelectric behaviour favoured by short-range B-site ordering in 10% Ba2+ substituted MgFe2O4

•Mechanism driving polarization in MgFe2O4 is the Maxwell–Wagner polarization.•But Raman studies confirm the existence of local P4122/P4322 symmetry in MgFe2O4.•Ba2+ substitution increases ferroelectric ordering, ΔTm span, and masks electronic contribution.

Using the molten salt method, pristine and Ba2+ substituted MgFe2O4 are prepared. The relaxor-like behaviour observed in the dielectric dispersion indicates the existence of B-site short-range ordering with the local P4122/P4322 symmetry which is confirmed by the Raman spectroscopy. The paper further analyses the origin of polarization using Maxwell–Wagner fit and Nyquist plot. This work suggests a possible way to increase the relaxor-like ferroelectric ordering, larger span of relaxation temperature (ΔTm) and the effective masking of electronic contribution by the substitution of Ba2+ ion.

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