Electrical properties of semiconducting barium vanadate glasses

Abstract

The preparation of vanadate glasses containing barium oxide and their electrical properties in the temperature range of 80-500 K have been reported in this article. Analysis of the electrical properties has been made in the light of different hopping models. The multiphonon assisted hopping model of small polarons in the nonadiabatic regime, proposed by D. Emin [Phys. Rev. Lett. 32, 303 (1974)] have been observed to describe the temperature dependence of the conductivity data of these glasses over the entire temperature range of measurement. The parameters obtained from the fits of the experimental data to this model are reasonable and consistent with the glass composition. J. Schnakenberg's model [Phys. Status Solidi 28, 623 (1968)] is also consistent with the temperature dependence of the conductivity data. Mott's optical phonon assisted hopping model at high temperatures provides smaller values of the localization length. However, Mott's variable range hopping model is valid at low temperatures.