Specific features of oxygen-ionic conduction in oxide nanoceramics

The effect of surface tension on the activation energy for oxygen-ionic conduction in nanoceramics is considered. The activation energy is calculated for oxygen ion diffusion through oxygen vacancies, which are treated as dilatation centers. The activation energy is shown to decrease as the nanoparticle size decreases. Based on the size distribution function of nanoparticles, the activation energy distribution function is calculated. Analytical expressions are obtained for the dependences of the ionic conduction on temperature and nanoparticle size. The increase of two to three orders of magnitude in the oxygen-ionic conduction observed earlier in the ZrO₂: 16% Y nanoceramics is adequately described by these expressions. The surface tension of nanoparticles is shown to cause a substantial increase in the oxygen-ionic conduction observed in nanoceramics; the main contribution to the conductivity is related to a region near the particle surface.     

Specific features of electrical conduction of the poly-[NiSalen] metal-containing polymer thin-film structure

The charge transfer in the oxidized and reduced forms of poly-[NiSalen] metal-containing polymer films is investigated. It is established that the voltage dependence of the differential conductivity for the polymer in the oxidized form exhibits a nonlinear behavior, which indicates a high electrical activity of this state. The microscopic parameters characterizing the charge transfer are calculated within the space-charge-limited current theory. Differences in the surface morphology of two forms of the poly-[NiSalen] films are revealed using atomic-force microscopy.     

Specific features of hopping conduction in bismuth-containing oxide layered ceramics

The dynamic conduction of bismuth-containing oxide layered ceramics of the composition Sr₂Bi₂TiNb₂O₁₂ is investigated in a weak alternating field at frequencies of 0.5–500 kHz in the temperature range 300–700 K. It is demonstrated that the high-temperature conduction can be adequately described in terms of theoretical concepts using the effective medium method and corresponds to two-dimensional hopping transfer. The concentration of nodes in the system through which charge-carrier hopping occurs is estimated.     

Electrical conduction in manganese tungstate

The a.c. and d.c. electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power of a single crystal of MnWO₄ are reported in the temperature range 300–1200 K. It has been found that the dominant charge carriers are holes over the entire temperature range studied. A break in the log σ-($\text{1}\text{T}$) curve occurs around 600 K. The activation energies below and above this break temperature have been estimated as 0.53 and 0.57 eV. The charge carrier mobilities have also been estimated. The data have been analysed using the polaronic concept of electrical conduction.     

Specific features of the electrical conductivity of V6O11

A study has been made of the electrical conductivity of V₆O₁₁ single crystals over a broad range of temperatures covering the regions of the metal phase, metal-insulator phase transition, and insulator phase. It has been shown that the electrical conductivity of the metal phase correlates with the Mott limit of minimum conductivity. To explain the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of the V₆O₁₁ insulator phase, the theory of hopping conduction taking into account the effect of thermal vibration of atoms on the resonance integral has been invoked.     

Electric conduction in n-type germanium and cadmium sulfide

The impurity conduction of n-type Ge and CdS is calculated via a previously developed theory for impurity bands in doped semiconductors. Rough agreement with experimental data over a wide range of impurity concentration is found. The comparison with AMO-MT calculation shows a large enhancement due to a stronger electron correlation.     

Specific features in the synthesis, crystal structure and electrical conductivity of BICUTIVOX

The formation of solid solutions Bi₄V_2 − xCu_x/2Ti_x/2O_11 − x (0.025 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) known as BICUTIVOX, synthesized by three different methods (a conventional solid-state synthesis, solid-state synthesis enhanced by mechanical activation, and through liquid precursors), has been studied. Based on crystal structure investigations carried out at different temperatures, ranges of stability and temperatures of phase transitions for different polymorphous modifications have been defined. The morphology and the local chemical composition of the ceramic samples obtained have been studied. Thermal expansion coefficients have been measured. The electrical conductivity of ceramic samples has been investigated in a wide range of temperatures and partial oxygen pressures.     

Possibility of electrical conduction in filled bands

It is shown that a moving neutral particle interacting with electrons may cause an “electron drag” within a filled band. The calculation uses perturbation theory and periodic boundary conditions and is based on the one-electron model. WithN being the number and ¯v the average velocity of the electrons, one finds that for largeN the electronic velocity sumN¯v induced by the motion of the neutral particle is independent ofN, i.e. of the size of the system. The lowest-order contributions toN¯v that do not necessarily vanish are seen to be those of second order in the interaction potential. These second-order contributions are studied. In a simple one-dimensional model they are found to be, in fact, not necessarily zero and to be proportional to the velocity of the neutral particle. An order-of-magnitude formula forN¯v is derived for this case. The calculation suggests that mobile neutral particles may act as charge carriers, their effective charge possibly being much smaller than the elementary charge. In real systems, neutral particles which interact with electrons might be represented by phonons and excitons.     

Specific features in the behavior of electrical resistivity of the pine biocarbon preform/copper composite

The electrical resistivity ρ(T) of the novel type of composites prepared by infiltrating melted copper in vacuum in empty sap channels of white pine high-porosity biocarbon preforms has been measured in the temperature range 5–300 K. Biocarbon preforms have been prepared by pyrolysis of tree wood in an argon flow at two carbonization temperatures, 1000 and 2400°C. The electrical resistivity of the composites has been found to vary relatively weakly with temperature and to pass through a characteristic minimum near 40–50 K, which can be ascribed to iron and manganese impurities penetrating into copper from the carbon preform when liquid copper is infiltrated into it. It has been shown that the electrical resistivity ρ(T) of the composites is governed primarily by the specific microstructure of the preform, which is made up of parallel channels with an average diameter of about 50 μm interrupted by systems of thin capillaries. The small cross section of the copper-filled capillaries accounts for these regions providing the major contribution to the electrical resistivity of the composites. An increase in the wood carbonization temperature brings about a noticeable increase in the effective capillary cross section and a decrease in the electrical resistivity ρ(T) of the composite.     

The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity in amorphous germanium

An investigation of the electrical conductivity in amorphous Ge has been made. It has been found that the temperature dependence of the conductivity can differ from the usually acceptedT ^–1/4 law. It has been shown that transition from the hopping-type conductivity can be influenced by the conductivity in extended states.Cukrovarnická 10, Praha 6, Czechoslovakia.We are grateful to dr. B. Velický for discussions about the subject matter of this paper and to Mr. J. Zemek for preparation of germanium samples.     

Specific features of electrical conductivity of the insulating phase of vanadium dioxide doped with niobium

The electrical conductivity of V_{1 – x}Nb_xO₂ single crystals have been investigated over a wide temperature range covering regions of the existence of the metallic and insulating phases. It has been shown that, with an increase in the niobium concentration, the electrical conductivity of the metallic phase becomes below the Mott limit for the minimum metallic conductivity. Immediately after the metal–insulator transition, the electrical conductivity is determined by a large amount of free electrons that gradually localized with a decrease in the temperature. The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity in the insulating phase of V_{1 – x}Nb_xO₂ has been explained in the framework of the hopping conductivity model that takes into account the effect of thermal vibrations of atoms on the resonance integral.     

Specific features in the change of electrical resistivity of carbon nanocomposites based on nanodiamonds under neutron irradiation

The physical properties of bulk composite materials consisting of nanodiamond, pyrolytic carbon, and nanopores were investigated. Samples were irradiated in a channel of the reactor by fast neutrons (E > 0.5MeV) in ampoules with helium and in an aqueous medium. The dependences of the electrical transport properties of materials with different compositions on the dose of irradiation with fast neutrons were studied. A nonmonotonic change in the electrical resistivity with an increase in the neutron fluence was revealed. Possible explanations were offered for the observed dependence of the electrical resistivity on the neutron fluence, in particular, those related to the physical processes occurring in surface states of the three-phase system of the nanocomposite.     

Specific features of electrical properties of porous biocarbons prepared from beech wood and wood artificial fiberboards

This paper reports on comparative investigations of the structural and electrical properties of biomorphic carbons prepared from natural beech wood, as well as medium-density and high-density fiberboards, by means of carbonization at different temperatures T _carb in the range 650–1000°C. It has been demonstrated using X-ray diffraction analysis that biocarbons prepared from medium-density and high-density fiberboards at all temperatures T _carb contain a nanocrystalline graphite component, namely, three-dimensional crystallites 11–14 Å in size. An increase in the carbonization temperature T _carb to 1000°C leads to the appearance of a noticeable fraction of two-dimensional graphene particles with the same sizes. The temperature dependences of the electrical resistivity ρ of the biomorphic carbons have been measured and analyzed in the temperature range 1.8–300 K. For all types of carbons under investigation, an increase in the carbonization temperature T _carb from 600 to 900°C leads to a change in the electrical resistivity at T = 300 K by five or six orders of magnitude. The dependences ρ(T) for these materials are adequately described by the Mott law for the variable-range hopping conduction. It has been revealed that the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity exhibits a hysteresis, which has been attributed to thermomechanical stresses in an inhomogeneous structure of the biocarbon prepared at a low carbonization temperature T _carb. The crossover to the conductivity characteristic of disordered metal systems is observed at T _carb ? 1000°C.     

Steady-state electrical conduction in the periodic Lorentz gas

We study nonequilibrium steady states in the Lorentz gas of periodic scatterers when an electric external field is applied and the particle kinetic energy is held fixed by a thermostat constructed according to Gauss principle of least constraint (a model problem previously studied numerically by Moran and Hoover). The resulting dynamics is reversible and deterministic, but does not preserve Liouville measure. For a sufficiently small field, we prove the following results: (1) existence of a unique stationary, ergodic measure obtained by forward evolution of initial absolutely continuous distributions, for which the Pesin entropy formula and Young's expression for the fractal dimension are valid; (2) exact identity of the steady-state thermodynamic entropy production, the asymptotic decay of the Gibbs entropy for the time-evolved distribution, and minus the sum of the Lyapunov exponents; (3) an explicit expression for the full nonlinear current response (Kawasaki formula); and (4) validity of linear response theory and Ohm's transport law, including the Einstein relation between conductivity and diffusion matrices. Results (2) and (4) yield also a direct relation between Lyapunov exponents and zero-field transport (=diffusion) coefficients. Although we restrict ourselves here to dimensiond=2, the results carry over to higher dimensions and to some other physical situations: e.g. with additional external magnetic fields. The proofs use a well-developed theory of small perturbations of hyperbolic dynamical systems and the method of Markov sieves, an approximation of Markov partitions.Dedicated to Elliott Lieb     

Size-dependent electrical conduction of thin nickel films

The electrical resistivity of thin nickel films, thermally evaporated on freshly cleaved mica and smooth glass at 160 °C is studied. The measurements were taken in situ before and after annealing at 420 °C.The values of resistivity of thinner films are reduced by few orders of magnitude after annealing. A sharp reduction in the resistivity is noticed for films prepared on mica compared with those prepared on glass under the same conditions. The resistivity of films with thickness less than 200 Å on glass is irreversible with reduction, while on mica it is reversible. A tunnelling mechanism in the absence of Fuchs theory is adapted to explain the abrupt increase in resistivity of the island-films. The data recorded for thicker films was fitted to Fuchs theory withp=0.The authors would like to acknowledge Prof. Dr. K. R.Wassif for his kind cooperation and interest.     

The electrical conduction variation in stained carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes become stained from coupling with foreign molecules, especially from adsorbing gas molecules. The charge exchange, which is due to the orbital hybridization, occurred in the stained carbon nanotube induces electrical dipoles that consequently vary the electrical conduction of the nanotube. We propose a microscopic model to evaluate the electrical current variation produced by the induced electrical dipoles in a stained zigzag carbon nanotube. It is found that stronger orbital hybridization strengths and larger orbital energy differences between the carbon nanotube and the gas molecules help increasing the induced electrical dipole moment. Compared with the stain-free carbon nanotube, the induced electrical dipoles suppress the current in the nanotube. In the carbon nanotubes with induced dipoles the current increases as a result of increasing orbital energy dispersion via stronger hybridization couplings. In particular, at a fixed hybridization coupling, the current increases with the bond length for the donor-carbon nanotube but reversely for the acceptor-carbon nanotube.