Investigation of electrical properties of Mn doped tin oxide nanoparticles using impedance spectroscopy

Manganese doped tin oxide nanoparticles with manganese content varying from 0 to 15 mol % were synthesized using sol-gel method. The structural and compositional analysis was carried out using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDAX). Dielectric and impedance spectroscopy was carried out at room temperature to explore the electrical properties of Mn doped SnO2. XRD analysis indicated the formation of single phase rutile type tetragonal structure of all the samples. The crystallite size was observed to vary from 16.2 to 7.1 nm as the Mn content was increased. The XRD, SEM, and EDAX results corroborated the successful doping of Mn in the SnO2 matrix. Complex impedance analysis was used to distinguish the grain and grain boundary contributions to the system, suggesting the dominance of grain boundary resistance in the doped samples. The dielectric constant epsilon', dielectric loss tan delta and ac conductivity sigma(ac) were studied as a function of frequency and composition and the behavior has been explained on the basis of Maxwell-Wagner interfacial model. All the dielectric parameters were found to decrease with the increase in doping concentration. Moreover, it has been observed that the dielectric loss approaches to zero in case of high dopant concentration (9%, 15%) at high frequencies. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3506691]