Dielectric relaxation in Ba(Ti0.8Zr0.2)O3 ceramics prepared from sol-gel and solid state reaction powders

In order to correlate dielectric relaxation properties with chemical homogeneity and microstructure in ferroelectric ceramics, powders are prepared both by sol-gel route and solid-state reaction. This comparative study concerns Ba(Ti_0.8Zr_0.2)O₃ ceramics, with maximum permittivity close to room temperature. Dielectric relaxation is reported in the frequency and temperature ranges 10⁶ to 10⁹ Hz and 250–350 K, respectively. A minimum of the relaxation frequency occurs close to the phase transition temperature. The variations off_r are correlated with chemical homogeneity and microstructure.