Tailoring transport properties through nonstoichiometry in BaTiO₃–BiScO₃ and SrTiO₃–Bi(Zn_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃ for capacitor applications

The ceramic perovskite solid solutions BaTiO₃–BiScO₃ (BT–BS) and SrTiO₃–Bi(Zn_1/2Ti_1/2)O₃ (ST–BZT) are promising candidates for high-temperature and high-energy density dielectric applications. A-site cation nonstoichiometry was introduced in these two ceramic systems to investigate their effects on the dielectric and transport properties using temperature- and oxygen partial pressure-dependent AC impedance spectroscopy. For p-type BT–BS ceramics, the addition of excess Bi led to effective donor doping along with a significant improvement in insulation properties. A similar effect was observed on introducing Ba vacancies onto the A-sublattice. However, Bi deficiency registered an opposite effect with effective acceptor doping and a deterioration in the bulk resistivity values. For n-type intrinsic ST–BZT ceramics, the addition of excess Sr onto the A-sublattice resulted in a decrease in resistivity values, as expected. Introduction of Sr vacancies or addition of excess Bi on A-site did not appear to affect the insulation properties in air. These results indicate that minor levels of nonstoichiometry can have an important impact on the material properties, and furthermore it demonstrates the difficulties encountered in trying to establish a general model for the defect chemistry of Bi-containing perovskite systems.