Influences of vanadium doping on ferroelectric properties of strontium bismuth niobates

The effects of vanadium doping on the ferroelectric properties of layered perovskites strontium bismuth niobates (SBN) were investigated. The ferroelectric properties of SBN were significantly enhanced with vanadium doping up to 10 at%, while the layered perovskite structure was preserved. Substitution of niobium by much smaller vanadium cations resulted in an increased `rattling space', leading to a significantly higher remanent polarization from approximately 2.4 μC cm-2 to approximately 8 μC cm-2 with 10 at% V5+ doping and a lower coercive field from approximately 63 kV cm-1 to approximately 45 kV cm-1. At lower temperatures, the SBVN samples showed almost the same d.c. conductivities regardless of vanadium doping, while at higher temperature range, the vanadium-doped samples had lower conductivities.