Este trabalho apresenta um estudo dos mecanismos de transporte iônico nos vidros fluorsilicatos de cádmio e chumbo de composição 40SiO2 40PbF2 20CdF2, e nos vidros boratos contendo LiF de composição 50B2O3 10PbO 40LiF. Estes materiais são importantes pela sua potencial utilização em dispositivos ópticos e eletrólitos sólidos. No vidro borato 50B2O3 10PbO 40LiF o estudo da forma de linha do 7Li mostrou que esta é influenciada tanto por interações dipolares quanto por quadrupolares. O estudo de RMN revelou que há dois F- presentes neste vidro, um deles em vizinhaças de Pb (F- incorporados à rede vítrea substituindo o oxigênio do grupo PbO), e o outro em vizinhanças de Li. A forma de linha de RMN dependente da temperatura para o lítio e para o flúor, e seus tempos de relaxação, exibem as características qualitativas associadas com a alta mobilidade do 7Li e do 19F neste sistema. Este estudo também mostrou que, neste vidro, tanto o Li+ como o F- contribuem para a condutividade medida, sendo que o 7Li é móvel a temperaturas mais baixas (a partir de 250 K), e o 19F começa a se mover em temperaturas mais altas (a partir de 400 K). No vidro 40SiO2 40PbF2 20CdF2, os resultados de RMN mostraram a alta mobilidade do flúor e evidenciaram duas dinâmicas diferentes dos íons flúor. Os dados da relaxação do flúor revelaram um máximo da taxa de relaxação spin-rede abaixo da temperatura de transição vítrea (Tg), indicando que a mobilidade do flúor, neste vidro, é comparável àquelas encontradas em condutores iônicos rápidos / This work presents a study of the ionic transport mechanisms in lead-cadmium fluorosilicate glasses, of composition 40SiO2 40PbF2 20CdF2, and in borate glasses containing LiF, of composition 50B2O3 10PbO 40LiF. These materiais are important due to theirs high potential applicability in optic devices and in solid electrolytes. In the borate glass 50B2O3 10PbO 40LiF, the line shape study of 7Li shows an influence of the dipolar and quadrupolar interactions. The NMR results showed that there are two kinds of F- ions in this glass, one in the Pb vicinity (F- in the glass lattice, in substitution of the PbO oxygen), and the other in the Li vicinity. The NMR line shape depends on the temperature for the 7Li and 19F atoms, and their relaxation times reflect qualitative features related to the high mobility of there nuclei. Also, this study shows that, in this glass, both, 7Li and 19F, play an important role in the electric conductivity. The 7Li is mobile for low temperatures (from 250 K), while the 19F is mobile for high temperatures (from 400 K). In the 40SiO2 40PbF2 20CdF2 glass, the NMR results showed the high mobility of the fluorine ions, indicating two different dynamics of those nuclei. The relaxation data of the 19F presented a spin-lattice relaxation rate maximum below the glass transition temperature (Tg, indicating that the 19F mobility in this glass is comparable to that of rapid ionic conducting glasses

No description available.

Diferentes vidros alcalinos têm sido desenvolvidos para serem usados como eletrólitos sólidos na fabricação de baterias e em sensores químicos devido a sua elevada condutividade iônica. Entretanto, um efeito deletério para os dispositivos surge quando dois íons alcalinos distintos se encontram em uma mesma matriz vítrea. O fenômeno conhecido na literatura como efeito dos alcalinos mistos (mixed-alkali effect (MAE), em inglês) provoca uma variação não-linear em certas propriedades físicas, especialmente na condutividade elétrica, levando ao aparecimento de um profundo mínimo (ou máximo, dependendo da propriedade em estudo), à medida que a concentração relativa dos dois íons alcalinos presentes na rede vítrea varia. O MAE foi descoberto há mais de 100 anos e até hoje a sua real origem não é conhecida. As pesquisas ganharam um novo impulso com a necessidade de miniaturizar e aumentar a eficiência das baterias, para atender a demanda dos novos equipamentos eletrônicos, e com o desenvolvimento da computação, especialmente dos programas de modelagem e dinâmica molecular. Neste trabalho o objetivo foi produzir vidros boratos dos sistemas 50B2O315PbO(35-x)Li2OxNa2O e 50B2O315PbO(35-x)LiFxNaF e determinar a ocorrência e a intensidade do MAE, procurando correlacionar com a possível mudança da estrutura local. Os vidros foram produzidos pelo método de fusão/moldagem em atmosfera aberta. O caráter não-cristalino foi determinado por difração de raios X e a caracterização estrutural foi realizada utilizando-se das técnicas espectroscópicas vibracionais de Infravermelho (IV) e Raman. O estudo das propriedades físicas dos vidros foi realizado mediante a utilização das técnicas de espectroscopia de impedância (caracterização elétrica), calorimetria exploratória diferencial (determinação dos eventos térmicos) e pelo método de Arquimedes (obtenção da densidade). / Different alkali glasses have been developed because exhibit a high ionic conductivity and can be used as solid electrolytes in the fabrication of devices such as batteries and chemical sensors. However, a deleterious effect emerges when two alkali ions are present in the same glassy matrix. The phenomenon, named of the mixed alkali effect (MAE), causes a nonlinear variation of certain physical properties, especially for the electrical conductivity, with the emergence of a deep minimum (or maximum, depending of the property under study). The effect was discovered more than 100 years ago and even today its real origin remain unknown. The research gained new impetus due to need to miniaturize and to increase the efficiency of the batteries to answer the demands of new electronic equipment and with the development of computing, especially of the modeling and dynamic molecular softwares. In this work the goal was to produce the borate glass systems 50B2O315PbO(35-x)Li2OxNa2O and 50B2O315PbO(35-x)LiFxNaF and to determine the occurrence and intensity of the MAE, seeking to correlate with the possible change of the local structure. The glasses were produced by melting/modeling method in open atmosphere. The structural characterization was performed using Infrared (IR) and Raman vibrational spectroscopies. The study of the physical properties was carried out by impedance spectroscopy (electrical characterization), differential scanning calorimetry (to get the thermal events) and Archimedes method (to obtain the density).

Diferentes vidros alcalinos têm sido desenvolvidos para serem usados como eletrólitos sólidos na fabricação de baterias e em sensores químicos devido a sua elevada condutividade iônica. Entretanto, um efeito deletério para os dispositivos surge quando dois íons alcalinos distintos se encontram em uma mesma matriz vítrea. O fenômeno conhecido na literatura como efeito dos alcalinos mistos (mixed-alkali effect (MAE), em inglês) provoca uma variação não-linear em certas propriedades físicas, especialmente na condutividade elétrica, levando ao aparecimento de um profundo mínimo (ou máximo, dependendo da propriedade em estudo), à medida que a concentração relativa dos dois íons alcalinos presentes na rede vítrea varia. O MAE foi descoberto há mais de 100 anos e até hoje a sua real origem não é conhecida. As pesquisas ganharam um novo impulso com a necessidade de miniaturizar e aumentar a eficiência das baterias, para atender a demanda dos novos equipamentos eletrônicos, e com o desenvolvimento da computação, especialmente dos programas de modelagem e dinâmica molecular. Neste trabalho o objetivo foi produzir vidros boratos dos sistemas 50B2O315PbO(35-x)Li2OxNa2O e 50B2O315PbO(35-x)LiFxNaF e determinar a ocorrência e a intensidade do MAE, procurando correlacionar com a possível mudança da estrutura local. Os vidros foram produzidos pelo método de fusão/moldagem em atmosfera aberta. O caráter não-cristalino foi determinado por difração de raios X e a caracterização estrutural foi realizada utilizando-se das técnicas espectroscópicas vibracionais de Infravermelho (IV) e Raman. O estudo das propriedades físicas dos vidros foi realizado mediante a utilização das técnicas de espectroscopia de impedância (caracterização elétrica), calorimetria exploratória diferencial (determinação dos eventos térmicos) e pelo método de Arquimedes (obtenção da densidade). / Different alkali glasses have been developed because exhibit a high ionic conductivity and can be used as solid electrolytes in the fabrication of devices such as batteries and chemical sensors. However, a deleterious effect emerges when two alkali ions are present in the same glassy matrix. The phenomenon, named of the mixed alkali effect (MAE), causes a nonlinear variation of certain physical properties, especially for the electrical conductivity, with the emergence of a deep minimum (or maximum, depending of the property under study). The effect was discovered more than 100 years ago and even today its real origin remain unknown. The research gained new impetus due to need to miniaturize and to increase the efficiency of the batteries to answer the demands of new electronic equipment and with the development of computing, especially of the modeling and dynamic molecular softwares. In this work the goal was to produce the borate glass systems 50B2O315PbO(35-x)Li2OxNa2O and 50B2O315PbO(35-x)LiFxNaF and to determine the occurrence and intensity of the MAE, seeking to correlate with the possible change of the local structure. The glasses were produced by melting/modeling method in open atmosphere. The structural characterization was performed using Infrared (IR) and Raman vibrational spectroscopies. The study of the physical properties was carried out by impedance spectroscopy (electrical characterization), differential scanning calorimetry (to get the thermal events) and Archimedes method (to obtain the density).

Physical properties of materials and their constituents are interrelated. Though the basic structural unit involved also plays a role in deciding the properties, this can be manipulated to a certain extent, by carefully selecting the basic ingredients or by varying the composition. In order to tailor the properties of the materials according to the need, the relationship between the properties and the structure has to be established. Glasses, due to their inherent disorder, don’t have the privilege of using symmetry as enjoyed by their crystalline counterparts. Given their components and composition there is no immediate and easy way of predicting all the observed properties of glasses. This is not considering computer simulations and DFT calculations. Hence we go back to play with nature, i.e., do experiments. Technological applications like LASERs, optic fibers, photosensitive semiconducting thin films, solid state batteries for energy storage etc. have greatly increased the interest in the fundamental properties of disordered materials. Large coefficient of linear expansion of germanate glasses is made use in glass-to-metal seals for ultra high vacuum. More over, many germanate based glasses with specially tailored dispersion properties have been developed. GeO2 based glasses are in fibre optics in the IR region of 1.5 to 1.8 microns. Borate glasses are resistant to thermal and chemical attack. They lower the melting temperature of glasses thus facilitating large scale production.Both borates and germanates have been worked upon extensively. Alkali boro germanate systems are interesting inherently. Borates and Germanates both are glass formers by themselves. The continuous random network formed by this base glass is modified by the presence of alkali ions. It is interesting to see to what extent the alkali ions can maintain the local charge neutrality in their neighborhood by creating non bridging oxygen atoms and how the presence of two formers is stabilizing the glass matrix. Present Work This thesis work is an attempt to understand the structure of alkali borogermanate glasses 25R2O-25GeO2-(50-x)B2O3-xNd2O3:(R=Li, Na, K and Rb; x=0,0.5). A variety of experimental techniques are available to give a good insight of the structure of glass systems. In this thesis, we have carried out  Optical studies at room temperature to probe the environment of RE ion  AC conductivity at high temperature to probe the alkali ion dynamics  11B MASS NMR of doped systems at room temperature to probe the Boron sites  Raman and Mid-IR experiments at room temperature to probe the various structural groups to get a comprehensive understanding of the structure of these glasses. To facilitate the analysis of the data and discussion of the results from these experiments, the thesis is divided in to four chapters excluding the introduction as categorized above and is presented accordingly. The second chapter begins with the preparation of the glass samples and their characterization. We have used Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), powder XRD and elemental analysis using ICP-OES for characterizing the sample. We have also measured the density and refractive index of the glasses under study. After this section, we describe the results from Optical Absorption and Photoluminescence studies. A brief description of Judd-Ofelt (JO) theory used for the analysis of the results is given. We have calculated the optical parameters and JO parameters and the energy levels of Nd ions in the glass matrix based on absorption studies using program written in Matlab. The procedure to calculate these parameters and their relevance in estimating the important quantities like radiative transfers, branching ratios are discussed. The effect of variation of the alkali ions on these properties is also discussed. In the third chapter, we have investigated AC conductivity in these glasses. These experiments are carried out both as a function of frequency (40 Hz - 15 MHz) and temperature (220 C – 500 C) using a home made portable furnace with a temperature controller. The cable compensation using open and short standards were done at the high temperature end. The data has been analyzed in Electric modulus (M*) formalism using Kohlrausch William Watts (KWW) function. The other basic models used in the literature like Debye, Cole-Cole, Cole Davidson and Havriliak Negami are briefly discussed. The frequency dependence of conductivity in these systems has been ascribed to the hopping motion of the alkali ions. Non-symmetric nature of the imaginary part of M* shows an evidence of non-exponential relaxation. Activation energies were estimated from the temperature variation of the KWW and DC. The fit parameters KWW and KWW shows interesting behavior. KWW in LGBNd and NGBNd show an initial increase with increasing temperature reaching a value of 1, while a contrasting behavior is observed in KGBNd and RGBNd. Barton-Nakajima-Namikawa (BNN) plot of the present study gives a value of 0.67 and 0.7 for the slope parameter p for doped and un-doped samples respectively. BNN plot is used to correlate the ac and dc conductivities in the sample. The deviation of the slope parameter from unity may be an indication of different charge carriers for ac and dc transport. Fourth Chapter describes the room temperature 11B MASS NMR studies in Nd doped glass system. The relevant theory of Zeeman, Dipolar, Quadrupolar and Chemical shift interactions are discussed briefly before the results. The principle used in obtaining high resolution NMR in solids by means Sample spinning is also described. NMR line shape for the central transition (1/2  -1/2) of I=3/2 nuclei (11B) was simulated in Mathematica and fitting was tried in Matlab. Using this background we have analyzed the line shape. In the next part, the results of 11B MASS NMR experiments of doped glasses carried out using Bruker DSX300 at 96.3MHz are presented. The fraction of contribution from four and three co-ordinated 11B to NMR line-shape were identified and calculated. The results show unambiguously the presence of two 3 coordinated 11B sites which were differentiated on the basis of the quadrupolar parameters. In the last chapter we discuss the results of Raman and Mid-IR investigations carried out in these glasses at room temperature. These two important techniques are well established in identifying the structural groups in glass systems. Raman bands observed in the range 200 cm-1 to 1600 cm-1 in these glasses are deconvoluted using gaussian peaks and they have been assigned to various modes of possible structural groups. Two broad MIR absorption bands were observed between 600cm-1 - 1600cm-1 in both doped and undoped glasses. Each band was resolved into gaussian peaks. The band shifts and the changes in the intensities are ascribed to the effects of variation of alkali, as the presence of GeO2 (up to 25mol%) is known not to affect the borate bands as it is a former by itself.

No description available.

Transparent glasses embedded with TTB structured ferroelectric nano/micro crystals (K3Li2Nb5O15, Ba5Li2Ti2Nb8O30) were fabricated in various tellurite and borate based glass matrices and characterized for their physical properties. Nanocrystals of K3Li2Nb5O15 were successfully grown inside tellurite glass matrix via conventional heat-treatment route. Eventhough, tellurite glasses preferentially crystallize only on the surface, bulk uniform crystallization was achieved in the (100-x) TeO2 - x(1.5K2O-Li2O-2.5Nb2O5) system. Heat capacity studies revealed them to be thermodynamically less fragile than any other tellurite glasses ever reported in the literature. Pyroelectric and ferroelectric effects as well as second harmonic generation were demonstrated for the heat treated (glass nanocrystal composites) samples in this system. The conventional method of melt-quenching of constituent oxides could not yield Ba5Li2Ti2Nb8O30 crystallites. So, Ba5Li2Ti2Nb8O30 microcrystals were successfully formed in tellurite glass matrix by mixing pre-reacted Ba5Li2Ti2Nb8O30 ceramic powders with TeO2. The glass transition temperature was found to be the highest ever reported and this system was kinetically strong based on the fragility parameter. Dielectric studies revealed a frequency and temperature independent nature of the dielectric constant and very low dielectric loss. The SHG measurement which was carried out as a function of temperature demonstrated the incidence of blue second harmonic generation in the microcrystals present in the glass matrix. Ba5Li2Ti2Nb8O30 nanocrystals were successfully crystallized in the transparent glass system (100-x)Li2B4O7 – x(Ba5Li2Ti2Nb8O30). Dielectric constant increased while the dielectric loss decreased with the increase in Ba5Li2Ti2Nb8O30 content. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic studies were carried out to have an insight into the structure of this system. Transmission studies and refractive index measurements were performed and various optical parameters were calculated. Dielectric and transport properties were studied for the glasses and glass nano/microcrystal composites of all the systems reported in this thesis. Li+ ion was found to be responsible for conduction in all these systems. Evolution of self-organized nanopatterns of K3Li2Nb5O15 crystals has been demonstrated in the glass system (100-x) TeO2 - x(1.5K2O-Li2O-2.5Nb2O5) by excimer laser irradiation. The second harmonic signal observed by the Maker fringe technique has been attributed to the presence of well-aligned nano-sized grating structures in the glass system. Glasses belonging to the systems TeO2-K3Li2Nb5O15, TeO2-Ba5Li2Ti2Nb8O30 and V2Te2O9 undergo spinodal decomposition on exposing to KrF pulsed excimer laser. The spinodally phase separated structures were observed on all the surfaces of the samples. Ring shaped patterns were observed on several locations of the samples at higher frequency of laser pulses probably owing to the shock waves produced by the high intense laser beam. Line shaped patterns were found to originate on the sample surfaces when irradiated for longer periods.

Borate glasses and glass-nano/microcrystal composite fabrication and investigations into their physical properties, have been interesting from their multifunctionalities view point. Certain borate structural units possess high hyperpolarizabilities and give rise to high nonlinear optical effects. High refractive index materials are important for photonic applications. Heavy metal oxide (Bi2O3) containing compounds have high refractive indices. Glasses embedded with wide band-gap semiconducting oxide crystals such as TiO2 received much attention due to their easy processing, stability and promising physical properties. Though TiO2 is used as nucleating agent to fabricate glass-ceramics of various phases, crystallization of TiO2 in glass matrices is difficult and the data are scarce in the literature. Therefore it was worth attempting to find glass compositions in which one can obtain TiO2 crystallization in large volume fractions. Towards this TiO2 crystallization was accomplished in BaO-TiO2-B2O3 glass matrix over wide composition ranges by tuning the concentration of BaO-TiO2 content in B2O3 network. The physical properties of these glasses of various compositions and glass-nanocrystal composites of TiO2 phase (anatase) were investigated. Interestingly BaO-TiO2-B2O3 glasses found to be hydrophobic in nature. The results obtained in the present research work are classified into five chapters apart from the Introduction, Materials and Methods chapters. Chapter 1 constitutes preface to oxide glasses, principles of glass formation and structural criteria followed by crystallization kinetics. In addition, principles of dielectric, optical and mechanical phenomena in glasses are discussed, since the present thesis focuses on the aforesaid physical properties. This chapter concludes with scope of the present thesis. Chapter 2 includes the detailed description concerning the fabrication techniques of materials under study and various characterization methods that have been employed at various stages of the present research work. The principles and experimental tools adopted for the structural and microstructural studies of materials were illustrated. Measurement techniques and experimental setup used to study physical parameters such as dielectric, optical, mechanical etc. were elaborated. Chapter 3 comprises structural, dielectric, electrical transport characteristics and optical studies of mixed alkali borate glasses in the 0.5Li2O-0.5M2O-2B2O3 (M=Li, Na and K) system. Transparent glasses in the Li2O-2B2O3 (LBO), 0.5Li2O-0.5Na2O-2B2O3 (LNBO) and 0.5Li2O-0.5K2O-2B2O3 (LKBO) were fabricated via the conventional melt quenching technique. Amorphous and glassy nature of the samples was confirmed via the X-ray powder diffraction and the differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. LKBO glass was found to have high thermal stability than that of LBO and LNBO. The frequency and temperature dependent characteristics of the dielectric relaxation and the electrical conductivity were investigated in the 100 Hz - 10 MHz frequency range. The relaxation and conductivity were rationalized using impedance and modulus formalism. Imaginary part of the electric modulus spectra was modelled using an approximate solution of Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts relation. The stretching exponent, β, was found to be temperature independent for LNBO glasses. Activation energies for conduction and relaxation process were calculated using the Arrhenius relation. The activation energy was found to be higher (1.25eV) for LKBO glasses than that of the other glass systems under study. This is attributed to the mixed cation effect. It has wide optical transmission window and optical band gap. Urbach energies were calculated for all these glasses. LBO, LNBO and LKBO glass compositions were found to crystallize in Li2B4O7, LiNaB4O7 and LiKB4O7 phases respectively upon heat treatment at appropriate temperatures. Transparent glass-micro crystal composites of LiKB4O7 were fabricated from LKBO glasses and found to be SHG active. BaO-TiO2-B2O3 Chapter 4 delineates the evolution of nanocrystalline TiO2 phase (Anatase) in BaO-TiO2-B2O3 (BTBO) glasses. Transparent colourless glasses in the ternary system were fabricated via conventional melt-quenching technique. The glasses with certain molar concentrations of BaO and TiO2 upon heat treatment at appropriate temperatures yielded nanocrystalline phase of TiO2 associated with the crystallite size in the 5-15 nm range. Nanocrystallized glasses exhibited high refractive index (no=2.15) at λ=543nm. These glasses were found to be hydrophobic in nature associated with the contact angle of 90o. These high index glass nanocrystal composites would be of potential interest for optical device applications. Crystallization kinetics of anatase phase in BTBO glasses were studied using non-isothermal Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) at three different heating rates (10, 20 & 30 K/min). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) carried out on heat treated (at 920 K) glasses confirmed bulk nucleation and three-dimensional growth. Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model could not be applied for this system suggesting considerable overlap of the nucleation and growth involving complex transformation process. However, modified Kissinger and Ozawa models were used to calculate the effective activation energy associated with anatase crystallization. The kinetic exponent n was found to be temperature dependent indicating the change in the crystallization mechanism. This is attributed to the high entropy fusion of anatase phase, fast crystallization rate and nano dimension of the anatase phase. Chapter 5 illustrates structural changes that occur in the x(BaO-TiO2)-B2O3 (x=0.25, 0.5, 0.75 &1 mol.) system on increasing the x apart from the details concerning some physical property correlations. Thermal stability and glass forming ability as determined by Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) were found to increase with increasing BaO-TiO2 (BT) content. However, there was no noticeable change in the glass transition temperature (Tg). This was attributed to the active participation of TiO2 in the network formation especially at higher BT contents via the conversion of the TiO6 structural units into TiO4 units which increased the connectivity and resulted in an increase in crystallization temperature. Dielectric and optical properties at room temperature were studied for all the glasses under investigation. Interestingly, these glasses were found to be hydrophobic. The results obtained were correlated with different structural units present in the glass and their connectivity. These glasses exhibited low loss (tan δ≈0.002), frequency (10 kHz- 10 MHz) and temperature independent (or very weak temperature response) flat-dielectric response. Crossover temperature was encountered between flat response and Jonscher’s universal response. The cross-over temperature and cross-over energy barrier from flat dielectric response to Jonscher’s response was deduced for all the glasses in the present investigation. Electric modulus formalism was invoked to rationalize the relaxation phenomena. The observed dielectric response and conduction process in these glasses were attributed to the local vibration and switching of non-bridging oxygen ions in their potential cage and hopping over distributed energy barriers above the crossover temperature. Chapter 6 depicts the dielectric and mechanical properties of glasses embedded with TiO2 nanocrystals. BaO-TiO2-B2O3 glasses on subjecting to appropriate heat treatment temperature yielded TiO2 nano crystalline anatase phase. NMR studies carried out on the as-quenched glasses facilitated the estimation of fraction of tetrahedral and trigonal borate units. Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus were evaluated through theoretical expressions proposed by Makishima and Mackenzie. Nano-indentation and micro-indentation studies were carried out on the as-quenched glasses and glass-nanocrystal composites to examine mechanical characteristics. Estimated and indentation Young’s modulus of glasses were found to be in reasonable agreement. Hardness and Young’s modulus increased with increasing fraction of nano crystallites whereas fracture toughness was found to depend strongly on surface conditions. The results were corroborated by the structural units and particulates present in these glasses. Dielectric constant increased with increasing volume fraction of the nanocrystals which was rationalized via mixture rule. Chapter 7 describes the dielectric properties, electrical conduction and electric relaxation phenomena in 2Bi2O3-B2O3 (BBO) glasses followed by thier linear and nonlinear optical characteristics. Glasses in BBO system were obtained via melt-quenching technique. X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry were used to study the structural characteristics. Dielectric studies carried out on these glasses revealed near constant loss (NCL) response in the 1 kHz to 1 MHz frequency range at moderately high temperatures (300-450 K) accompanied by relatively low loss (tan δ=0.006, at 1 kHz & 300 K) and high dielectric constant (ε' =37, at 1 kHz & 300 K). The variation in AC conductivity with temperature at different frequencies showed a cross over from NCL response characterized by local ion vibration within the potential well to universal Jonscher’s power law dependence triggered by ion hopping between potential wells or cages. Thermal activation energy for single potential well was found to be 0.48±0.05 eV from cross over points. Ionic conduction and relaxation processes were rationalized by modulus formalism. The promising dielectric properties (relatively high ε' and low tan δ) of the BBO glasses were attributed to high density (93 % of its crystalline counterpart), high polarizability and low mobility associated with heavy metal cations, Bi3+. Optical band gap obtained for BBO glasses was found to be 2.6 eV. The refractive index measured for these glasses was 2.25±0.05 at λ=543 nm. Nonlinear refraction and absorption studies were carried out on BBO glasses using z-scan technique at λ=532 nm of 10 ns pulse width. The nonlinear refractive index obtained was n2=12.1x10-14 cm2/W and two-photon absorption coefficient was β=15.2 cm/GW. The n2 and β values of the BBO glasses were higher than that reported for high index bismuth based oxide glass systems in the literature. These were attributed to the high density, high linear refractive index, low band gap and two-photon absorption associated with these glasses. The electronic origin of large nonlinearities was discussed based on bond-orbital theory. Thesis ends with summary and conclusions followed by prospective views, though each chapter comprises conclusions associated with complete list of references. Patent, publications and conference proceedings that are listed below are largely based on the studies conducted as a part of the research work reported in the present thesis.

Ferroelectric materials are very promising for a variety of applications such as high-permittivity capacitors, ferroelectric memories, pyroelctric sensors, piezoelectric and electrostrictive transducers and electro-optic devices, etc. In the area of ferroelectric ceramics, lead-based compounds, which include lead zirconatetitanate (PZT) solid solutions, occupy an important place because of their superior physical properties. However, due to the toxicity of lead, there is an increasing concern over recycling and disposing of the devices made out of these compounds, which has compelled the researchers around the globe to search for lead-free compounds with promising piezo and ferroelectric properties. Ferroelectric materials that belong to Aurivillius family of oxides have become increasingly important from the perspective of industrial applications because of their high Curie-temperatures, high resistivity, superior polarization fatigue resistanceand stable piezoelectric properties at high temperatures. These bismuth layer-structured ferroelectrics (BLSF) comprise an intergrowth of [Bi2O2]2+ layers and [An+1Bn O3n+1]2- pseudo-perovskite units, where ‘n’ represents the number of perovskite-like layers stacked along the c-axis. ‘A’ stands for a mono-, di- or trivalent ions or a combination of them, ‘B’ represents a small ion with high valencysuch as Ti4+, Nb5+, Ta5+or a combination of them.Ferroelectricity in the orthorhombic phase of these compounds was generally attributed to the cationic displacement along the polar a-axis and the tilting of octahedra around the a- and c-axes. Sr2Bi4Ti5O18(SBT) is ann = 5 member of the Aurivillius family and possess promising ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties that could be exploited for a wide range of applications, including ferroelectric random access memories (FeRAM), piezoelectric actuators, transducers and transformers. Reports in the literaturereveal that the ferroelectricand piezoelectric properties of these oxides can be tuned depending on synthesis routes vis-a-vis micro-structural aspects (texture, grain size) and site specific dopant substitutions.In the present study, textured SBT ceramics were fabricated using pre-reacted precursors and their anisotropic dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties were demonstrated. Grain size tunability with regard to their physical properties was accomplished in the ceramics, fabricated using fine powders obtained from citrate assisted sol-gel synthesis. The grain size dependent second harmonic generation activity of SBT ceramics was investigated. Enhancement in the piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties of SBT ceramics was achieved by substituting A site ions (Sr2+) with a combination of Na+ and Bi3+. From the perspective of non-linear optical device applications, physical properties associated with the SBT crystallized in a transparent lithium borate glass matrix were studied. The results obtained in the present investigations are organized as follows, Chapter 1 gives a brief exposure to the field of ferroelectrics. The emphasis has been on the ferroelectric oxides belonging to the Aurivillius family. Structural aspects and the underlying phenomena associated with ferroelectricity in these compounds are discussed. A brief introduction to the glasses, thermodynamic aspects of glass formation and fabrication of glass- ceramics are included. Basic principles involved in the non-linear optical activities are highlighted. Chapter 2 describes the various experimental techniques that were employed to synthesize and characterize the materials under investigation. The experimental details pertaining to the measurement of various physical properties are included. Chapter 3 deals with the fabrication of Sr2Bi4Ti5O18 ceramics using the pre-reacted Bi4Ti3O12 and SrTiO3 powders viasolid-state reaction route. These in stoichiometric ratio were uniaxially pressed and sintered at 1130oC for 3 h resulting in textured Sr2Bi4Ti5O18 ceramics. The obtained dense ceramics exhibited crystallographic anisotropy with prominent c-axis oriented grains (Lotgering factor of 0.62) parallel to the uniaxially pressed direction. The resultant anisotropy in the ceramics was attributed to the reactive template-like behavior of Bi4Ti3O12 that was used as a precursor to fabricate Sr2Bi4Ti5O18 ceramics. Dielectric, ferro and piezoelectric properties measured on the ceramics in the direction perpendicular to the uniaxially pressed axis were found to be superior to that measured in the parallel direction. Chapter 4 reports the details pertaining to the synthesis of strontium bismuth titanate (Sr2Bi4Ti5O18) powders comprising crystallites of average sizes in the range of 94–1400 nm via citrate-assisted sol-gel route. X-ray powder diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy were employed for the structural studies. A crystallite size-dependent variation in the lattice parameters and the shift in the Raman vibration modes were observed. Second harmonic signal (532 nm) intensity of the Sr2Bi4Ti5O18 powders increased with the increase in the average crystallite size and the maximum intensity obtained in the reflection mode was 1.4 times as high as that of the powdered KH2PO4. Piezo force microscopic analyses carried out on an isolated crystallite of size 74 nm, established its single domain nature with the coercive field as high as 347 kV/cm. There was a systematic increase in the d33 value with an increase in the size of the crystallite and a high piezoelectric coefficient of ~27 pm/V was obtained from an isolated crystallite of size 480 nm. Chapter 5 illustrates the details concerning the fabrication of Sr2Bi4Ti5O18(SBT) ceramics with different grain sizes (93 nm–1.42 μm) using nano-crystalline powders synthesized via citrate assisted sol-gel method. The grain growth in these powder compacts was found to be controlled via the grain boundary curvature mechanism, associated with anactivation energy of 181.9 kJ/mol. Interestingly with a decrease in grain size there was an increase in the structural distortion which resulted in a shift of Curie-temperature (phase transition) towards higher temperatures than that of conventional bulk ceramics. Extended Landau phenomenological theory for the ferroelectric particles was invoked to explain experimentally observed size dependent phase transition temperature and the critical size for SBT is predicted to be 11.3 nm. Grain size dependent dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of the SBT ceramics were studied and the samples comprising average grain size of 645 nm exhibited superior physical properties that include remnant polarization (2Pr) = 16.4 μC cm-2, coercive field (Ec) = 38 kV cm-1, piezoelectric coefficient (d33) = 22 pC N-1 and planar electromechanical coupling coefficient (kp) = 14.8 %. In Chapter 6, the studies pertaining to the fabrication of Sr(2-x)(Na0.5Bi0.5)xBi4Ti5O18 (SNBT) ceramics for various x values (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5), using fine powders synthesized via sol-gel route are dealt with. X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopic studies were carried out to confirm composition dependent structural changes taking place in the SNBT ceramics. Scanning electron microscopic studies carried out on ceramics revealed that dopants played an important role in inhibiting the grain growth. Dielectric constants of the ceramics were found to decrease with an increase in ‘x’. The increase in Curie temperature with increase in ‘x’ is attributed to the decrease in the tolerance factor. Particularly,x = 0.3 composition of the SNBT ceramics exhibited better piezo and ferroelectric properties with a higher Curie-temperature (569 K). The piezoelectric coefficient (d33) and the planar electromechanical coupling coefficient (kp) of SNBT(x = 0.3) were enhanced by 25% and 42% respectively as compared to that of the undoped ceramics. Chapter 7 deals with the glasses in the system (100 –x) {Li2O + 2B2O3} ─x {2SrO + 2Bi2O3 +5TiO2} (where, x = 10, 25 and 35) fabricated via conventional melt-quenching technique. The amorphous and glassy characteristics of the samples were confirmed respectively using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) methods. All the compositions under investigation exhibited two distinct crystallization peaks (exothermic peaks in the DSC traces): the first peak at ~ 545 °C and the second at ~610 °C that were found to be associated with the crystallization of the phases (as confirmed from the XRD studies) Sr2Bi4Ti5O18 (SBT)and Li2B4O7 (LBO) respectively. Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics (using modified Ozawa-type plots) for SBT crystallization in the LBO glass matrix for the compositions x = 10 and 35, indicated three dimensional growth of the crystallites from pre-existing nuclei present in the as-quenched samples and their effective activation energies for crystallization were found to be around 686 ± 85 kJ/mol and 365 ± 53 kJ/mol, respectively. The optical band gap of the as-quenched glasses for the composition x = 35 was 2.52 eV, is less than that of the composition x = 10 (2.91 eV). The Urbach energies for the as-quenched glasses of compositions x = 10, 25 and 35 were found to be 118 ± 2 meV, 119 ± 2 meV and 192 ± 1 meV respectively.The glasses associated with the composition x = 35, on controlled heat-treatment at 515 °C for various durations (1―20 h), yielded glass-ceramics comprising SBT nano-crystals (18―28 nm) embedded in the LBO glass matrix. Compressive strain in the nano-crystallites of SBT, analyzed using Williamson-Hall method was found to decrease with an increase in the crystallite size. The second harmonic generation signal (532 nm) intensity emanating from glass-nanocrystal composites comprising 22.1 nm SBT crystallites was nearly 0.3 times that of a KDP single crystal. Although each chapter is provided with conclusions and a list of references, thesis ends with a separate summary and conclusions.