Temperature dependent structural, dielectric, Raman, piezoresponse and photoluminescence investigations in sol-gel derived BCZT ceramics

0.5Ba(Ti0.8Zr0.2)O-3-0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 [50BZT-50BCT or BCZT] based compounds have been the focus of a lot of research, particularly motivated by their high piezoelectric effect. However, the literature lacks an elaborate investigation of the phase transition behavior in BCZT ceramics obtained by wet chemistry processing. Here, we present an in-depth study on the temperature dependence of x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering, dielectric properties, local piezoresponse and photoluminescence (PL) to investigate the sequence of phase transitions in the BCZT ceramic synthesized via a chemical route. Phase formation was determined by Rietveld analysis of XRD data, while compositional homogeneity and elemental quantification of the compound was validated using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. Detailed fitting of XPS data indicated the existence of Ti3+ species (similar to 6%) in the prepared BCZT. Phase transitions were examined by analyzing the modifications in the XRD profile of Bragg reflection {200} and anomalies observed in the temperature variation of dielectric and Raman spectra studied over a wide temperature range starting from 10K to beyond Curie temperature. Crystallographic transformation temperatures obtained from dielectric measurement agreed well with those assessed from the temperature evolution of Raman spectra. In addition to other transitions, Raman scattering results revealed the existence of a transition from R3c to R3m phase near -175 degrees C, a transition that has not been interpreted in BCZT (and generally not observed in parent BaTiO3 compound). The luminescence response was studied by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy in the temperature range 15-300 K. The position of the PL peak was observed to shift with temperature and discontinuities in the wavelength shift were noted near phase transitions. Evolution of domain morphology with temperature was examined by piezoresponse force microscopy technique. Consolidated results assign the phase sequence in sol-gel derived BCZT as: R (R3c) ->(-175 +/- 10 degrees C) R (R3m) ->(-50 +/- 10 degrees C) O ->(40 +/- 10 degrees C) T ->(120 +/- 10 degrees C) C.

Automated summary

This study provides an in-depth investigation into the phase transition behavior of BCZT ceramics synthesized via a chemical route, using various techniques such as XRD, Raman scattering, dielectric properties, local piezoresponse, and photoluminescence. The results reveal a multi-stage phase transition sequence from R (R3c) to C, including a new phase transition near -175 degrees Celsius.