Defect characterization of slow-cooled and quenched samples of calcium-copper-titanate through positron annihilation spectroscopy

Abstract

Positron annihilation lifetime and Doppler-broadened gamma-ray spectra have been analyzed for slow-cooled and thermally quenched polycrystalline samples of calcium-copper-titanate. Two positron lifetimes revealing the characteristic defects in the respective samples were carefully analyzed to compare and contrast the significance of their origin and implication. A third component arising from positronium formation at the powdered particle surfaces has been considered in the analysis although its significance is lost in its very small intensity (∼ 1.1–1.2%). In the quenched sample, the defect-specific long positron lifetime (τ2) is found to larger and the mean lifetime smaller while its intensity I2 is found drastically smaller and the concentration of defects less by an order of magnitude as compared to the slow-cooled sample. The observed changes in electrical parameters of slow-cooled and quenched samples were found to have correlations with the positron annihilation lifetime and Doppler-broadened lineshape parameters.