Structural trends and dielectric properties of Bi-based pyrochlores

The crystal structure and dielectric properties of Bi-based pyrochlore ceramics with formula Bi_1.5ZnM_1.5O₇ (M=Nb, Ta or Sb) were investigated. The three composition ceramics crystallize in the same pyrochlore structure, but the lattice parameters decrease with decreasing B-site ionic radius. Raman spectra analyses were performed to look for short-range structural differences and indicate that the Ta and Sb incorporation into B-site induce the A-site cations array to be more disordered. Ta or Sb replacing Nb lead to smaller dielectric constant and higher temperature coefficient values. The common characteristics for the three compositions are that they have rather low dielectric loss and high resistivity. The dielectric behavior with temperature for BZS and BZT samples were more flat than that of the BZN ceramics. Dielectric abnormal behavior at high temperature for all samples is typically associated with losses by conduction.