Permittivity boosting by induced strain from local doping in titanates from first principles

We examine the effect of isovalent substitutions and co-doping on the ionic dielectric constant of paraelectric titanates (perovskite, Ruddlesden-Popper phases, and rutile) using density functional perturbation theory. Substitutions increase the ionic dielectric constant of the prototype structures, and new dynamically stable structures with ε_ion ~ 10²-10⁴ are reported and analyzed. The boosting of ionic permittivity is attributed to local defect-induced strain, and maximum Ti-O bond length is proposed as a descriptor. The Ti-O phonon mode that is responsible for the large dielectric constant can be tuned by a local strain and symmetry lowering from substitutions. Our findings help explain the recently observed colossal permittivity in co-doped rutile, attributing its intrinsic permittivity boosting solely to the lattice polarization mechanism, without the need to invoke other mechanisms. Finally, we identify new perovskite- and rutile-based systems that can potentially display colossal permittivity.