Relaxation and saturation of electrostriction in 10 mol% Gd-doped ceria ceramics

10 mol% Gd-doped ceria (10GDC) ceramics, with grain size in the single micron range, display electrostrictive behavior under ambient conditions of temperature and pressure. In weak, quasi-static electric fields, i.e. <1 kV/cm, frequency <1 Hz, the longitudinal strain is measured to be proportional to the square of the applied electric field, albeit with the corresponding electrostrictive strain coefficient (M₃₃) displaying large variability between samples: −(2-20)·10⁻¹⁷ (m/V)². Nevertheless, |M₃₃| of all samples exceeds the values expected on the basis of the classical (Newnham) electrostriction scaling law by up to two orders of magnitude. A systematic study reveals the functional dependence of M₃₃ on frequency: above 10 Hz, |M₃₃| decreases to ≈10⁻¹⁸ (m/V)², which may be characterized as non-Debye relaxation with non-ideality factor 0.35–1.13. For frequencies ≤1.5 Hz, increasing the field strength beyond 1 kV/cm results in an exponential decrease in |M₃₃|: the longitudinal strain saturates at 1-4 ppm. Dielectric impedance spectra suggest that partitioning of the applied voltage between grain boundaries and grain cores may be a factor contributing both to the large variability in the electrostriction parameters, and to the strong dependence on electric field amplitude. The frequency dependence may have two sources: the slow electric field-driven reorganization of the Ce-containing active complexes in the electrostrictive medium as well as the influence of the grain boundaries. 10GDC ceramics may therefore be added to the list of non-classical electrostrictors which includes reduced and Gd-doped ceria thin films and (Nb,Y)-doped bismuth oxide ceramics.