Frequency domain measurements on Na2B4O7−V2O5 semiconducting glass

Abstract

Dielectric measurements on Na2B4O7(99.5%)−V2O5(0.5%) glass system, in the frequency range 10−3 to 104 Hz and temperature range 300 to 500 K, have been carried out. The normalized plots of complex capacitance have shown a single mechanism responsible for conduction for both volume and surface measurements with their close values of activation energies (0.67±0.03) eV and (0.64±0.03) eV, respectively. The low-frequency dispersion (LFD) behaviour has been observed to be perturbed by the presence of more than one competing process. The impedance plots have shown a parallel combination of a capacitor (C) and a resistor (R), with some contribution of a dispersive element due to charge accumulation in the vicinity of the electrodes. The values ofR andC were found to be of the same order of magnitude, for both surface and volume measurements. The observedR has shown a decrease with an increase in temperature due to an increase in mobility of Na+ ions, whereasC remains practicaly constant. The complex capacitance surface behaviour is dominated by volume, due to hygroscopy of this glass system.