Nanotechnology
A single electric relaxation time in Ba₁₋ₓSrₓTiO₃ nanoparticles at low temperatures
Nanotechnology · 18, 135707 (2007)
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Introduction
The dielectric response of Ba₀.₇₇Sr₀.₂₃TiO₃ nanoparticles changes character on cooling. Below 200 K a single Debye relaxation time fits the frequency dependence, whereas above 210 K the response spans a broad range of times.
A closer reading
The contrast lies in the width of the relaxation-time distribution, not simply in the height of a dielectric peak. The proposed analogy with frustration in antiferromagnets accounts for the low-temperature simplification but remains a microscopic hypothesis.