Effect of Nb doping of ferroelectric properties of Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 ceramics

Ferroelectric ceramics of Bi3.25La0.75Ti3−xNbxO12 (x=0.0,0.03) were synthesized using the solid-state reaction method. The influence of Nb doping on the P-E hysteresis and dielectric properties was investigated. The values of remanent polarization (Pr) and coercive (Ec) were 18μC∕cm2 and 140kV∕cm for Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 (BLT,x=0.0) and 25μC∕cm2 and 130kV∕cm for Bi3.25La0.75Ti3−xNbxO12 (BLTN,x=0.03), respectively. The Curie temperatures Tc appeared at 399°C in BLT and 356°C in BLTN. The dielectric constant of BLT revealed strong behavior dependency of both temperature and frequency, which could be related to the ionic conduction. Electrical conduction of BLT was observed to be higher than that of BLTN. The Pr increased with the Nb doping while the electrical conductivity decreased. These results mean that Nb doping can improve the ferroelectric properties of BLT ceramic.