We present an alternate version of the undergraduate laboratory experiment developed by Dixon [Am. J. Phys. 75, 1038–1045 (2007)] that is suitable for second-year students. We study the temperature variation of the capacitance of a ferroelectric ceramic derived from barium titanate, the solid solution. The ratio of tin to titanium is chosen to provide a convenient Curie temperature near . Using careful temperature control and real-time capacitance measurements, we track the time evolution of the capacitance in response to temperature changes at for runs that last up to a day. At temperatures well above the Curie temperature, , the capacitance relaxation is well-described by a single exponential decay. Near , the relaxation is linear in the logarithm of time over more than three decades. For , the permittivity deviates from the Curie–Weiss law and follows another phenomenological form commonly used to describe relaxor perovskite-ceramic capacitors.
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See EPAPS Document No. E-AJPIAS-75-012706 for a more detailed description of the sample preparation and characterization and for more details about the experimental apparatus. This document can be reached through a direct link in the online article’s HTML reference section or via the EPAPS homepage (http://www.aip.org/pubservs/epaps.html).
© 2007 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2007
American Association of Physics Teachers
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