Band gap narrowing in ferroelectric KNbO3-Bi(Yb,Me)O3 (Me=Fe or Mn) ceramics

The direct optical band gap in ferroelectric KNbO3-Bi(Yb,Me)O3 (Me=Fe or Mn) ceramics fabricated by the solid state reaction method varies from 3.2 eV for KNbO3 down to 2.2 eV for 0.95KNbO3-0.05BiYbO3, as revealed by optical spectroscopic ellipsometry. This narrowing of band gap is accompanied by an apparent increase of the room-temperature relative permittivity from 320 for KNbO3 to 900 for 0.95KNbO3-0.05BiYbO3. All compositions studied exhibit dielectric anomalies associated with structural phase transitions and their ferroelectric nature is corroborated by the presence of a sharp mixed mode (at ~190 cm-1) and by a Fano-type resonant dip in their Raman spectra.