Colossal dielectric constant and interfacial charge polarization in a polymer-derived amorphous silicon carbonitride

The dielectric properties of a polymer-derived amorphous silicon carbonitride were measured at different frequencies and temperatures. The results revealed that the material underwent an interfacial-charge polarization process. This process resulted in an S-shaped frequency dependence of the dielectric constant that reached a colossal value of 2 × 10⁴ at room temperature. With regard to the effect of the temperature on the dielectric properties of this material, the dielectric loss peak corresponding to the interfacial-charge polarization process shifted to higher frequencies with temperature by following a 3-dimentional (3D) hopping mechanism. The unique bi-phased amorphous structure of this material accounted for the observed results.