Thin films of a novel glassy conductor were prepared by subjecting LiNbO3 deposits to radio-frequency magnetron sputtering in a N-containing atmosphere. It was found that the films exhibited ionic conductivities which were 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of LiNbO3 films (with a room-temperature conductivity of about 5 x 10-7S/cm). It was noted that the film structure was highly cross-linked; leading to activation energies which were as low as 0.5eV (tables 7 and 8).

L.Q.Nguyen, V.V.Truong: Journal of Applied Physics, 1996, 80[5], 2914-7

 

 

 

 

Table 7

Ionic Conductivity of N-Doped LiNbO3

(deposited under a constant Ar partial pressure of 0.0009Torr)

 

 

PN (Torr)

 

 (S/cm)

 

E (eV)

 

 

0

 

6 x 10-9

 

0.69

4 x 10-4

7 x 10-9

0.65

5 x 10-4

2 x 10-8

0.62

6 x 10-4

1 x 10-7

0.55

7 x 10-4

2 x 10-7

0.53

8 x 10-4

5 x 10-7

0.51

9 x 10-4

3 x 10-7

0.50

1 x 10-3

9 x 10-8

0.52

 

 

 

 

Table 8

Ionic Conductivity of N-Doped LiNbO3

(deposited under a constant N partial pressure of 0.0008Torr)

 

 

PAr (Torr)

 

 (S/cm)

 

E (eV)

 

 

4 x 10-4

 

4 x 10-8

 

0.52

5 x 10-4

5 x 10-8

0.53

6 x 10-4

1 x 10-7

0.50

7 x 10-4

1.5 x 10-7

0.53

8 x 10-4

2 x 10-7

0.48

9 x 10-4

5 x 10-7

0.51

1 x 10-3

3.6 x 10-7

0.50

1.1 x 10-3

1.8 x 10-7

0.52