Ceramic dielectric, method of manufacturing the same, ceramic electronic component, and electronic device

A ceramic dielectric comprising:

• a grain comprising:
• barium;
• titanium;
• and
• a donor element comprising lanthanum, yttrium, bismuth, dysprosium, neodymium, samarium, holmium, or a combination thereof;
• and
• a grain boundary comprising an acceptor element, wherein the acceptor element comprises manganese, magnesium, aluminum, iron, scandium, gallium, or a combination thereof, wherein an amount of the acceptor element is about 0.5 mole to about 2 mole with respect to 100 mole of titanium,
• wherein the barium, the titanium, and the donor element are non-locally distributed in the grain.

A method of manufacturing a ceramic dielectric, the method comprising:

• heating a barium precursor, a titanium precursor, and a rare earth element precursor to obtain a barium titanium oxide doped with a rare earth element;
• mixing the barium titanium oxide doped with the rare earth element with an acceptor element precursor to obtain a mixture, wherein the acceptor element precursor comprises manganese, magnesium, aluminum, iron, scandium, gallium, or a combination thereof, wherein an amount of the acceptor element is about 0.5 mole to about 2 mole with respect to 100 mole of titanium;
• and
• sintering the mixture to obtain a plurality of grains comprising the barium titanium oxide doped with the rare earth element and an insulative oxide located between adjacent grains,
• wherein sintering the mixture comprises:
• primary heat treatment under a reduction atmosphere, and
• secondary heat treatment under an oxidizing atmosphere.

A ceramic electronic component, comprising

• a pair of electrodes facing each other;
• and
• a ceramic dielectric layer located between the pair of electrodes,
• wherein the ceramic dielectric layer comprises:
• a plurality of semiconductor grains, wherein one or more of the semiconductor grains comprises a semiconductor oxide, wherein the semiconductor oxide comprises barium, titanium, and a rare earth element;
• and
• an insulative oxide comprising an acceptor element, wherein the insulative oxide is located between adjacent semiconductor grains and wherein the acceptor element comprises manganese, magnesium, aluminum, iron, scandium, gallium, or a combination thereof, wherein an amount of the acceptor element is about 0.5 mole to about 2 mole with respect to 100 mole of titanium.