Abstract
The electrical conductivity of zinc oxide powders exhibits diurnal variations of up to two orders of magnitude when exposed to the atmosphere. Fifteen atmospheric variables were investigated as possible causes of these variations. However, only water vapour, ozone and atmospheric ions induced either dark or photoconductivity changes in zinc oxide. The effects of these constituents were determined by recording their atmospheric concentrations concurrently with the conductivity of zinc oxide photocells and calculating the degree of correlation between the variables. A highly significant correlation was found between zinc oxide conductivity and atmospheric ion concentration. A similar correlation was found between photoconductivity and humidity. However, the humidity varied over a narrow range and its effect, therefore, was relatively small. It is suggested that the variations in conductivity arise primarily from the reversible adsorption of negative ions which promotes a field effect on the mobility of the carriers in zinc oxide.
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