Electric modulus approach to the analysis of electric relaxation in highly conducting (Na_0.75Bi_0.25)(Mn_0.25Nb_0.75)O₃ceramics

Abstract

Broadband dielectric spectroscopy is applied to investigate the electrical properties of disordered perovskite-like ceramics in a wide temperature range. From the x-ray diffraction analysis it was found that the newly obtained (Na0.75Bi0.25) (Mn0.25Nb0.75)O3 ceramics consist of two chemically different phases. The major perovskite one has an orthorhombic structure described by the Pbcm space group (No 57, in yxz setting). The minor phase shows an orthorhombic symmetry, all-face-centred lattice F, with the lattice parameters a = 10.797(4) Å, b = 7.601(3) Å and c = 7.691(3) Å. The electric modulus M* formalism used in the analysis enabled us to distinguish and separate the relaxation processes, dominated by marked conductivity in the ε*(ω) representation. In the ceramics studied, the relaxation times are thermally activated and the dipole process has a clearly non-Debye behaviour. The relaxation process described with the use of the activation energy of approximately 0.4 eV and the characteristic relaxation time, τ0 = 1 × 10−11 s, was found to be related to oxygen vacancies. The low frequency relaxation shows Debye behaviour with a slightly lower activation energy and a longer characteristic time.