Analytical Electron Microscopy of Ferroelectric BaTiO3
Ferroelectric BaTiO3 has been the subject of TEM investigations since the early 1960’s(1,2). However most attention has been focussed on the ferroelectric domain structure in single crystals. This current work involves the analysis of polycrystalline, ferroelectric BaTiO3 from various commercial sources. This material is used for high capacitance capacitors because of its high dielectric constant. Various dopants (Zr and Bi oxides predominantly) must be added to stabilize the high dielectric constant over a range of temperatures(3). Impurities such as Al2O3 and SiO2 can also be present due to ceramic processing procedures. An analysis of this material was performed using TEM and energy dispersive analysis of x-rays (EDAX) in order to understand better the effects of these dopants and impurities on the structure and chemical composition of BaTiO3.