Semiconducting properties of magnesium vanadate glasses

Abstract

The electrical conductivity of semiconducting magnesium vanadate glasses has been reported for a wide composition range in the temperature range of 80-500 K. The experimental results have been analyzed in the framework of different hopping models. It has been observed that the multiphonon assisted hopping model of small polarons in the nonadiabatic regime, proposed by Emin, can interpret 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 appear reasonable and are consistent with the glass composition. On the other hand, 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 consistent with the low temperature data. Schnakenberg's model yields higher values of the hopping and the disorder energies than the activation energy obtained at the highest and the lowest temperature ranges.