Multifunctional Nd 3+ substituted Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 TiO 3 as lead-free ceramics with enhanced luminescence, ferroelectric and energy harvesting properties.

Herein, we present comprehensive investigations of the optical and electrical properties of Nd 3+ substitution in sodium bismuth titanate ceramics (NBNT) with varying Nd 3+ concentration. The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) emission for both unpoled and poled samples is observed to be a maximum for an Nd 3+ substitution of 1 mol%. Upon poling, the PL intensity is observed to be quenched, consistent with the obtained XRD data, indicating an electric-field induced structural ordering towards higher symmetry, confirmed with the help of structural refinement. The evaluated ferroelectric to relaxor and antiferroelectric relaxor T (F-R) was observed clearly from the poled dielectric-loss curve for the 1 mol% of Nd 3+ substitution. Furthermore, the optimized NBNT exhibited a lower E c and a higher off-resonance figure of merit (FOM off ) for energy harvesting by 12% and 30%, respectively, in comparison with un-doped NBT.