Limited frequency domain of the ac conductivity of some As2O3.V2O5.CuO.Nd2O3 glasses

Abstract Quaternary semiconducting glass system of the composition 25%As2O3.70%V2O5.(5-x)% CuO.x%Nd2O3 is prepared by the ordinary melt quenching technique. Electrical conductivity is measured in the temperature and frequency ranges of 303–473K and 0-5MHz, respectively. Dc conductivity is found to increase with increasing the mol%Nd2O3 with activation energy decreases from 0.43 to 0.39 eV. Ac conductivity shows strong temperature and limited frequency range dependences. The ac frequency dependence region is controlled by the lowest and the highest effective jump frequencies, flj and fmj, respectively. Dc and Ac conductivities show an acceptable fitting to the random potential energy (RPE) model. A reproducible threshold switching properties with Vth values decreases with increasing the mol% Nd2O3 is verified for the studied glasses. The recorded switching properties show also temperature and thickness dependences. Measured and calculated temperatures during the switching cycles confirm that, the produced joule heating does not affect negatively the structure of the samples. Finally, the magnetic properties of the studied glasses show weak paramagnetic properties resulted from the composition variation.