Electrical conductivity and defect structure of Nd2O3+x

The electrical conductivity and departure from the stoichiometry of Nd₂O₃ have been measured over the temperature range of 900° to 1100°C and oxygen partial pressure of 1 to 10^?16 atm. The hole conductivity of Nd₂O₃ is found to be proportional to , where n are 4.6, 4.9, and 5.1 at 900°, 1000°, and 1100°C, respectively. From the oxygen partial pressure dependence of the hole conductivity, it is shown that the predominant point defects in nonstoichiometric NdO_1·+x are fully ionized and partially doubly ionized metal vacancies. From the thermogravimetric measurements, the departure from stoichiometry, x in NdO_1·5+x, is 2.0 × 10^?3 at 1000°C and 1 atm. By combining the electrical conductivity and weight change data, it is shown that the hole mobility is 6.3 × 10^?4 (cm²/V·sec) at 1000°C and 1 atm.