Infrared study of giant dielectric constant in Li and Ti doped NiO

Abstract

We have measured optical reflectivity of Li and Ti doped NiO (LTNO) in the infrared range at various temperatures. A Drude-like absorption is found at low energy, $\omega <$ 100 cm$^{-1}$ and its spectral weight increases substantially as temperature decreases. This observation and DC-resistivity result show that LTNO has a conductive grain and resistive boundary. Such composite structure provides evidence of the Maxwell-Wagner (MW) mechanism as the origin of the high dielectric constant $\epsilon_{o}$. We propose a three-phase granular structure and show that this extended MW model explains the observed frequency and temperature dependence of the dielectric constant as well as the giant value of $\epsilon_{o}$.