The Dielectric Relaxation in Solid Solutions BaTi1-xZrxO3

The low frequency dielectric relaxation of BaTi 1 − x Zr x O 3 ceramics is investigated by means of dielectric spectroscopy. The ferroelectric state of compositions with x ≤ 0.20 was verified by piezoresponse force microscopy. Correspondingly, domain wall relaxation was revealed in dielectric spectra for these compositions. The gradual crossover from ferroelectric to relaxor behavior in samples with larger zirconium content is characterized by both vanishing of the contribution due to domain walls and the appearance of relaxation related to reorientation of polar nanosized regions. The appearance of relaxor properties is supposed to be due to both weak random fields and disorder inherent in pure BaTiO 3 .