Dielectric relaxation and study of electrical conduction mechanism in BaZr_0.1Ti_0.9O₃ ceramics by correlated barrier hopping model

This work aims to study the electrical conduction mechanism in the dielectric material BaZr_0.1Ti_0.9O₃ (BZT) ceramics by applying AC signal in the frequency range of 10² Hz to 10⁶ Hz. The phase purity and microstructure of the sample have been studied by X-ray diffraction refinement and field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) analysis. The appearance of resonance peaks in the loss tangent at high temperature is due to inherent dielectric relaxation processes of this oxide. The temperature dependent Cole-Cole plot has been studied in details to determine both the grain and grain boundary contribution to the conductivity. Electrical modulus analysis reveals that the hopping of charge carriers is the most probable conduction mechanism in BZT ceramics. The obtained data of AC conductivity obey the universal double power law and have been discussed in terms of microstructural network characteristics. The behavior of frequency exponent n of AC conductivity as a function of temperature verify the applicability of the correlated barrier hopping (CBH) model. The AC conductivity data are used to estimate the minimum hopping length, density of states at Fermi level, thermal conductivity and apparent activation energy. The value of activation energy confirms that the oxygen vacancies play a vital role in the conduction mechanism.