Anelastic and dielectric relaxation measurements in the protonic conductor Ba3(Ca1.18Nb1.82) O9-δ

Abstract In order to study the proton motion in the perovskite-type protonic conductor Ba3(Ca1.18Nb1.82) O9-δ, anelastic and dielectric relaxation measurements have been carried out in the temperature range between -120°C and 500°C. Both relaxation techniques give information about the local reorientation of anisotropic defects. A typical example would be a OH− group tightly bound to a charge center like Ca2+ sitting on a Nb5+ site or vice versa. In the perovskite structure these complexes have several equivalent orientations and the reorientation jumps may give rise to either anelastic or dielectric relaxation or both.