Analysis of a.c. Characteristics in ZnO-Bi2O3Cr2O3 Varistor using Dielectric Functions

In this study, we have investigated the effects of Cr dopant on the bulk trap levels and grain boundary characteristics of $Bi_2O_3$-based ZnO (ZB) varistor using admittance spectroscopy and dielectric functions (such as $Z^*,\;Y^*,\;M^*,\;{\varepsilon}^*$, and $tan{\delta}$). Admittance spectra show more than two bulk traps of $Zn_i$ and $V_o$ probably in different ionization states in ZnO-$Bi_2O_3-Cr_2O_3$ (ZBCr) system. Three kinds of temperature-dependant activation energies ($E_{bt}) were calculated as 0.11~0.14 eV of attractive coulombic center, 0.16~0.17 eV of $Zn_{\ddot{i}}$, and 0.33 eV of $V_o^{\cdot}$ as dominant bulk defects. The grain boundaries of ZBCr could be electrochemically divided into two types as a sensitive to ambient oxygen i.e. electrically active one and an oxygen-insensitive i.e. electrically inactive one. The grain boundaries were electrically single type under 460 K (equivalent circuit as parallel $R_{gb1}C_{gb1}$) but separated as double one ($R_{gb1}C_{gb1}-R_{gb2}C_{gb2}$) over 480 K. It is revealed that the dielectric functions are very useful tool to separate the overlapped bulk defect levels and to characterize the electrical properties of grain boundaries.

유전함수를 이용한 ZnO-Bi2O3Cr2O3 바리스터의 a.c. 특성 분석