Influence of Tb3+ and Eu3+ doping on relaxation dynamics in Gd3Ce2Al3O12 garnet ceramics
摘要
The present study investigates the effect of Eu3+ and Tb3+ on electrical and relaxation behaviour of Gd3Ce2Al3O12 (GCAG) garnet at 30 °C. The phase analysis and oxidation state of the synthesized ceramics were verified by using XRD and XPS while morphological studies and chemical bonding analysis was performed using FESEM and FTIR. Notably, for 0.5% doping concentration shows decreased activation energy and increased DC conductivity, where Eu3+:GCAG shows a peak dielectric constant of 30.15 and DC conductivity of 7.12 × 10−5 S·cm−1, and Tb3+:GCAG reached 27.86 and 5.94 × 10−5 S·cm−1, respectively. The space charge polarization at grain boundaries was considered to be the cause of the increase in dielectric constant (ε′). The relaxation process displayed a wide range of relaxation time. The relaxation peaks shifted to higher frequencies confirming reduced relaxation time. Furthermore, Activation energies decreased from 0.65 eV (undoped) to 0.47–0.55 eV (Tb3+) and 0.52–0.56 eV (Eu3+) at 0.5% doping with enhanced DC conductivity.Overall, Tb3+ and Eu3+ doping has tuned the dielectric properties by offering insights into the defect-mediated conduction in GCAG ceramics as a room temperature dielectric material suggesting its possible suitability for capacitive energy storage applications.