DC conduction behaviour of niobium doped barium stannate

Abstract

A few compositions with x ≤ 0.100 in the system BaSn1-x NbxO3 have been synthesized by solid-state ceramic method. All these are found to be single phase having cubic structure similar to BaSnO3. Electrical resistivity decreases with increasing niobium concentration up to x = 0.010 and thereafter it increases rapidly for the compositions with x = 0.050 and 0.100. This has been explained in terms of the change in charge compensation behaviour beyond x = 0.010. Measurement of Seebeck coefficient as a function of temperature shows that electrons are the majority charge carriers in compositions with x ≤ 0.010 while compositions with x > 0.010, exhibit p-type conductivity showing that holes are the majority charge carriers. © 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.