skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: BiNb{sub 3}O{sub 9}, a metastable perovskite phase with Bi/vacancy ordering: Crystal structure and dielectric properties

Journal Article · · Journal of Solid State Chemistry
 [1]; ; ;  [2];  [3]
  1. CSIRO Process Science and Engineering, Box 312 Clayton South, VIC 3169 (Australia)
  2. Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)
  3. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Material Measurement Laboratory, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (United States)

The perovskite, BiNb{sub 3}O{sub 9}, is a metastable phase in the Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3}:Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} system that forms only when cooled from a liquid phase. Crystals of BiNb{sub 3}O{sub 9} prepared in this way display pseudocubic 2a×2a×2a diffraction patterns, due to non-merohedral twinning of a tetragonal a×a×2a cell, with the doubled axis oriented along all three pseudocubic axes. The structure was refined using data collected on a twinned crystal to R{sub 1}=0.034 for 318 observed reflections. BiNb{sub 3}O{sub 9} has tetragonal symmetry, P4/mmm with a=3.9459(3) Å, c=7.8919(6) Å. Partial ordering of Bi atoms and vacancies occurs, with alternate (0 0 1) planes having 28% and 42% Bi occupancies. The Bi atoms are displaced from the A-site special positions by up to 0.4 Å. The compound exhibits a relatively high permittivity value of ∼230 at room temperature, and shows a sharp increase with increasing temperature towards an apparent diffuse phase transition above ∼180 °C, with an associated frequency dependent peak in the dielectric loss. - Graphical abstract: Structure for BiNb{sub 3}O{sub 9}, showing split Bi atoms. Highlights: ► First characterisation of a new perovskite phase with potentially useful dielectric properties. ► Solving of the structure using single crystal data on a multiply twinned crystal. ► Measurement of dielectric properties that show the phase has a high dielectric permittivity.

OSTI ID:
22304572
Journal Information:
Journal of Solid State Chemistry, Vol. 200; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0022-4596
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English