Electrical conductivity and impedance spectroscopy studies of cerium based aeschynite type semiconducting oxides: CeTiMO6 (M = Nb or Ta)

Complex ceramic oxides, CeTiMO6 (M=Nb or Ta) having aeschynite type mineral structure were prepared by the conventional ceramic route. Complex impedance analysis in the frequency range 10 Hz-1 MHz over a wide temperature range (30-600 degrees C) indicates the presence of grain boundary effect along with the bulk contribution and also confirms the presence of non-Debye type of multiple relaxations in the material. The frequency dependent conductivity plots exhibit double power law dependence suggesting three types of conduction mechanisms: low frequency (10 Hz-1 kHz) conductivity owing to long range translational motion of electrons (frequency independent), mid-frequency conductivity (1-10 kHz) due to short-range hopping, and high frequency (10 kHz-1 MHz) conduction due to localized orientation hopping mechanism. The hopping model can explain the nature of the conduction mechanism completely. The electrical conductivity measurements with temperature suggest the negative temperature coefficient of resistance behavior. The activation energy studies allow insight into the nature of the conduction mechanisms. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3481389]