Dielectric characterization of the system Sr1-xGdxTi1-xCoxO3 (x = 0.10) using impedance spectroscopy

The structure of ceramic grain boundaries, boundary composition, the boundary charge and associated space charge controls the dielectric and electrical behavior of ceramics. Various methods were researched and applied to increase the dielectric constant by formation of insulating layers between semi-conducting grains. In this communication, we are reporting the effect of cooling rates from sintering temperature to room temperature on dielectric properties of the resulting ceramics in the system, Sr1-xGdxTi1-xCoxO3 with x = 0.10. All the samples in this system were prepared by conventional high temperature solid state reaction method. The samples were cooled at different cooling rates from sintering temperature to room temperature. The capacitance and dielectric loss were measured as a function of frequency and temperature using HP 4192A LF impedance analyzer. The samples cooled from different cooling rates from sintering temperature show interesting dielectric properties due to formation of insulating layers between grains. The impedance spectroscopy is used successfully in explaining the dielectric properties of these materials.