In this work, a series of BaTiO3-based ceramic materials, Ba(Al0.5Nb0.5)xTi1-xO3 (x = 0, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08), were synthesized using a standard solid-state reaction technique. X-ray diffraction profiles indicated that the Al+Nb co-doping into BaTiO3 does not change the crystal structure significantly with a doping concentration up to 8 %. The doping ions exist in Al3+ and Nb5+ chemical states, as revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The frequencydependent complex dielectric properties and electric modulus were studied in the temperature range of 100~380 K. A colossal dielectric permittivity (>1.5 × 104) and low dielectric loss (<0.01) were demonstrated at the optimal dopant concentration x = 0.04. The observed dielectric behavior of Ba(Al0.5Nb0.5)xTi1-xO3 ceramics can be attributed to the Universal Dielectric Response. The complex electric modulus spectra indicated the grains exhibited a significant decrease in capacitance and permittivity with increasing co-doping concentration. Our results provide insight into the roles of donor and acceptor co-doping on the properties of BaTiO3-based ceramics, which is important for dielectric and energy storage applications.
In this study, phase-pure titanium dioxide TiO2 ceramics are sintered using standard high-temperature solid-state reaction technique at different temperatures (1,000, 1,100, 1,200, 1,300, 1,400 oC). The effect of sintering temperature on the densification and impedance properties of TiO2 ceramics is investigated. The bulk density and average grain size increase with the increase of sintering temperature. Impedance spectroscopy analysis (complex impedance Z * and complex modulus M *), performed in a broad frequency range from 100 Hz to 10 MHz, indicates that the TiO2 ceramics are dielectrically heterogeneous, consisting of grains and grain boundaries. The complex impedance Z *-plane indicates the resistance of grains of the TiO2 ceramics increases with increasing sintering temperature, while that of grain boundaries develops in the opposing direction. The complex modulus M *-plane shows a grain capacitance that seems to be independent of the sintering temperature, while that of the grain boundaries decreases with increasing sintering temperature. These results suggest that different sintering temperatures have effects on the microstructure, leading to changes in the impedance properties of TiO2 ceramics.
Well-crystallized vanadium pentoxide V2O5 thin films are fabricated on MgO single crystal substrates by using pulsed-laser deposition technique. The linear optical transmission spectra are measured and found to be in a wavelength range from 300 to 800 nm; the data are used to determine the linear refractive index of the V2O5 films. The value of linear refractive index decreases with increasing wavelength, and the relationship can be well explained by Wemple’s theory. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of the films are determined by a single beam z-scan method at a wavelength of 532 nm. The results show that the prepared V2O5 films exhibit a fast third-order nonlinear optical response with nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index of 2.13 × 10−10 m/W and 2.07 × 10−15 cm2/kW, respectively. The real and imaginary parts of the nonlinear susceptibility are determined to be 3.03 × 10−11 esu and 1.12 × 10−11 esu, respectively. The enhancement of the nonlinear optical properties is discussed.