DC-bias dependent impedance spectroscopy of BaTiO3–Bi(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3 ceramics

This report discusses the voltage-stability of the dielectric and transport properties of BaTiO3–Bi(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3 (BT–BZT) ceramics which have shown excellent properties for emerging energy applications. For p-type BaTiO3, the ceramics deviated from Ohm’s law behavior at very low voltage levels along with a reversible drop in bulk resistivity by several orders of magnitude starting at bias fields as low as 0.1 kV cm^-1 (~8 V). In contrast, n-type BT–BZT ceramics exhibited a small (i.e. less than one order of magnitude) increase in resistivity on application of small field levels. These data indicate a hole-generation mechanism which becomes active at a low voltage threshold. The bulk capacitance values calculated using AC impedance spectroscopy, however, were relatively unaffected (