Study of structural, optical, dielectric, and electric properties of homovalently substituted Ce in SrTiO3 perovskite oxide

The samples SrTi1-xCexO3 with x as 0.0.02 and 0.04 were prepared via a conventional ceramic route. The XRD analysis showed that the pure and doped samples crystallized into the cubic crystal structure. The dopant steadily increases the lattice parameters, crystallite size, and micro-strain of SrTiO3. The FTIR analysis of samples reconfirmed the formation of a single-phase solid solution. The UV-Vis analysis suggests a gradual decrease in direct bandgap with the semiconductor nature of samples. With the addition of a dopant, the dielectric constant and tangent loss of samples have been decreased. The temperature dependence of dc conductivity reflects two conduction regions: electronic and mixed type conduction. The electrical properties of samples are correlated with structural parameters to understand the effect of dopants. These findings suggest that the current materials could be used as optical semiconductor devices, filters, and hybrid ionic and electronic conductors for IT-SOFC applications.