Electrical transport properties of manganese containing pyrochlore type semiconducting oxides using impedance analyses

Abstract A new series of manganese containing pyrochlore type semiconducting oxides CaCe1−xMnxSnNbO7−δ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6) have been synthesized to study the effect of Mn substitution on the structure, microstructure and electrical properties of these samples. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy studies revealed an increase of structural ordering and grain size respectively with increase of Mn substitution. Rietveld analysis and Raman spectroscopy were also employed to corroborate the XRD results. The bulk resistance measurements with temperature exhibit negative temperature coefficient behavior. The impedance analysis of the samples revealed a non-Debye type relaxation existed in the materials. The ac conductivity variation with temperature and frequency indicates a correlated barrier hopping type conduction mechanism in these materials. The barrier height and the intersite separation for hopping influence the electrical conductivity of these samples and are found to be a function of localization of electrons associated with the Mn2+ ions and the unit cell volume respectively. The Mn substitution increases both electrical conductivity and activation energy contrastingly. This unusual behavior has been explained by correlating the structure, microstructure, defect states, electron localization and intersite separation with the conductivity data of the samples.