Grain boundary structure and I-V characteristics were investigated for the Σ5 (210) symmetrical tilt boundaries of a Nb-doped bicrystal. The latter was prepared by using a hot-joining technique at high temperatures in air. A high-resolution transmission electron microscopic study revealed that the grain boundaries were perfectly joined at the atomic level, without intergranular phases such as amorphous or secondary precipitates. In spite of the high coherency, the boundary tended to be faceted; with low-index planes of (110) and (410) type reducing the grain-boundary energy. On the other hand, the I-V property across the boundary exhibited a cooling-rate dependence from the annealing temperature. The dependence also exhibited a peak versus the cooling rates. This suggested that the non-linearity in the I-V relationship was controlled mainly by a non-equilibrium defect reaction process.

Non-Linear Current-Voltage Property across Σ5(210) Symmetric Tilt Boundary in Nb-Doped SrTiO3 Bicrystal. M.Nishi, T.Tanaka, K.Matsunaga, Y.Ikuhara, T.Yamamoto: Materials Transactions, 2004, 45[7], 2112-6