The effect of Erbium on physical properties of the Ba 0.8 Ca 0.2 Ti 0.975 (Nb 0.5 Yb 0.5 ) 0.025 O 3 multifunctional ceramic

We reported the effect of Erbium (Er with x = 0.005, 0.01, 0.015, 0.02, 0.025 and 0.03)-substituted Ba 0.8 Ca 0.2 Ti 0.975 (Nb 0.5 Yb 0.5 ) 0.025 O 3 lead-free ceramics. Structural, dielectric, piezoelectric, ferroelectric and photoluminescence properties of all ceramics were systematically explored. At room temperature, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that (Ba 0.8 Ca 0.2 ) 1- x Er 2 x /3 □ x /3 Ti 0.975 (Nb 0.5 Yb 0.5 ) 0.025 O 3 samples (Abbreviated as BCTYN- x Er) exhibited a pure tetragonal phase for x ≤ 0.025. However, the composition ( x = 0.03) showed the formation of an additional phase. The vibrational study was found to correlate strongly with XRD analysis. The dielectric properties were improved in the composition x = 0.01, where the dielectric constant was increased from 5824 for x = 0 up to 6150 for x = 0.01. The composition ( x = 0.005) revealed the optimum properties with a d 33 piezoelectric coefficient of 88 pC/N, a k p planar electromechanical coupling factor of 16.9