Dielectric properties of barium zirconate titanate (BZT) ceramics tailored by different donors for high voltage applications

The dielectric properties of BZT ceramics with different Zr contents and donor types are studied. It is shown that the large enhancement of the dielectric permittivity is achieved accompanying with the remarkable shift of Curie temperature in the samples doped with donors such as La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Dy, and Yb, whereas the results are different in them doped with other type of donors such as Ce and Y. The shift of Curie temperature is related to the ionic radii of the doped donors. A smaller ion results in a greater shift. The dielectric properties of BZT with different doping levels of Yb are also studied and showed that there is a preferable doping content as Yb similar to 0.1% to make the material with the highest permittivity, epsilon similar to 25,800, withstand voltage > similar to 3.5 kV/mm. (C) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.