Relaxor ferroelectric like high dielectric constant in SmCrO3 semiconductor ceramics

The dielectric properties and impedance spectroscopy (IS) of perovskite SmCrO3 ceramics were studied in the frequency range of 100Hz 1MHz in the temperature range from 80 K to 300 K. These materials exhibited colossal dielectric constant value of ~ 104 at room temperature. The response is similar to that observed for relaxor-ferroelectrics. IS data analysis indicates the ceramics to be electrically heterogeneous semiconductors consisting of semiconducting grains with dielectric constant 10 and more resistive grain boundaries. We conclude, therefore that grain boundary effect is the primary source for the high effective dielectric constant in SmCrO
₃
ceramics.