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Electrically active grain boundaries in ZnO varistors by liquid-infiltration method

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Abstract

The varistors were fabricated by spreading a thin layer of Pr6O11 powder paste on the surface of ZnO pellets and heating to various temperatures (1200–1400 °C) and times (0–60 min). Higher heat-treatment temperatures and/or times resulted in progressively higher breakdown voltages. Eventually the devices became varistor, which was attributed to the formation of a liquid (ZnO-PrOx) layer between the grains. Microstructures of cross-sections of wetting pellets have shown that the infiltration rate was increased with the amount of Co3O4 and heat-treatment temperature. In addition, on the basis of the small variations of the varistor properties per grain boundary (e.g., threshold voltage, donor concentration, and barrier height), the number of active grain boundaries are believed to be increased when the samples were heat-treated above the liquid-phase temperature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Inorganic Materials Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152, Japan

    Sung-Yong Chun, Kazuo Shinozaki & Nobuyasu Mizutani

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  1. Sung-Yong Chun
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  2. Kazuo Shinozaki
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  3. Nobuyasu Mizutani
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Chun, SY., Shinozaki, K. & Mizutani, N. Electrically active grain boundaries in ZnO varistors by liquid-infiltration method. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 11, 73–80 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008912421936

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