Manipulating the ferroelectric, dielectric and photoluminescence performance of Ba0·77Ca0·23TiO3 ceramics through Pr3+ ions doping

The Pr 3+ -doped Ba 0·77 Ca 0·23 TiO 3 ferroelectric ceramics , which were sintered by means of a high-temperature solid-state reaction technology, were prepared. The Rietveld X-ray diffraction refinement and Raman spectrum proved that the resultant compounds had tetragonal phase. With the addition of Pr 3+ ions, the highest remanent polarization of the resultant ceramics was nearly two times higher than that of the pure Ba 0·77 Ca 0·23 TiO 3 ceramics. With the aid of a theoretical calculation based on the temperature-dependent dielectric constant, it is found that the synthesized compounds pertained to the relaxor-like ferroelectrics . Furthermore, through the piezoresponse force microscopy technique, the effect of Pr 3+ ions doping on the domain structure of the Ba 0·77 Ca 0·23 TiO 3 ferroelectric ceramics was studied. Additionally, the prepared ferroelectric ceramics can exhibited the characteristic emissions of Pr 3+ ions when excited by 450 nm light. The strongest emission intensity was achieved when the dopant content was 0.5 mol% and the dipole-quadrupole interaction contributed to the relevant concentration quenching mechanism.