Lanthanum (La) doped Barium titanate powders, Ba_1-xLa_xTiO₃ ceramics, with various La concentration (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.5 and 3%), were prepared through the sol-gel process and characterized by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) , Raman spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We have also performed dielectric measurements for temperatures such as 50 < T < 300 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the prepared powders, calcined at a relatively low temperature (900 °C/4 h), revealed their crystallization in the pure perovskite structure without the presence of secondary phases. Moreover, from these analyses, it was shown that La may enter both Ba and Ti sites contrary to what is widely reported in the literature indicating that La incorporates Ba sites only. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed quite regular morphology of the grains and an average grain size which decreases with introduction of La, in agreement with structural characterization. Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) analyses have given results in accordance with those of XRD and SEM characterizations. The permittivity variations as functions of the frequency showed a decrease in the interval [1kHz-100kHz], followed by an anormal increase in the interval [100 kHz-1MHz], indicating that the samples approached their frequency of resonance

Keywords: Ba_1-xLa_xTiO₃ ceramics, Sol-gel, Structure analysis, Dielectric properties