Variation of electrical conductivity and activation energy in semiconducting glasses with combination of P2O5- CaO- MoO3- Li2O

Abstract

In the present investigation, 40P₂O₅_xCaO (40-x)MoO₃_20Li₂O glasses with x=5, 10, 15, 20, 25 mol% were prepared by conventional melt quenching method. X-ray diffraction analysis was carried out to demonstrate the amorphous nature of prepared samples. Then, their dc conductivity (σ) was determined in the temperature range of 300-385 K by two-probe method. According to Mott theory, analysis of electrical properties has been made in the light of small polaron hopping (SPH) model and it was observed that the electrical conductivity increases with increase in temperature. The composition dependence of electrical conductivity and activation energy were also evaluated. It revealed that increasing the CaO content results in increase and decrease of activation energy and electrical conductivity, respectively. Moreover, conduction is ascribed to non-adiabatic hopping of small polaron.