Structural and electrical properties of pure and doped lanthanum oxide

In this communication, structural and electrical properties of rare earth oxides La2O3 (LO) and LaNdO3 (LNO) have been studied. To understand the structural properties of the LO and LNO samples, X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement was carried out at room temperature. The XRD patterns have been analyzed by Rietveld refinement to confirm the single-phase nature of both the samples. The crystal structures of studied samples were created from the derived parameters of Rietveld parameters. The crystal size and lattice strain have been estimated using Williamson–Hall (W–H) plot analysis. Frequency-dependent dielectric constant and loss tangent have been studied for a frequency range of 20 Hz to 2 MHz. To estimate the relaxation time and contribution of the charge carriers in the studied samples, relaxation mechanism and universal dielectric response (UDR) model have been employed. The ac conductivity measurements were carried out for the same frequency range (i.e., 20 Hz to 2 MHz) which has been understood on the basis of Jonscher’s power law. The barrier height has been calculated by fitting the power law. Frequency-dependent impedance behavior has been discussed in the context of grains and grain boundaries for both the samples under study.