초록
Manganese-incorporated neodymium oxide systems with a variety of Mn mol% were prepared to investigate the effect of doping on the electrical properties of neodymium oxide. XRD, XPS, SEM, DSC, and TG techniques were used to analyze the specimens. The systems containing 2, 5, 8, and 10 mol% Mn were found to be solid solutions by X-ray diffraction analysis and the lattice parameters were obtained for the single-phase hexagonal structure by the Nelson-Riley method. The lattice parameters, a and c, decreased with increasing Mn mol%. Scanning electron photomicrographs of the specimens showed that the grain size decreased with increasing Mn mol%. The curves of log conductivity plotted as a function of 1/T in the temperature range from 500 to 1000$^{\circ}C$ at $PO_2$'s of $10^{-5}$ to $10^{-1}$ atm for the specimens were divided into high-and low-temperature regions with inflection points near 820-890$^{\circ}C$. The activation energies obtained from the slopes were 0.53-0.87 eV for low-temperature region and 1.40-1.91 eV for high-temperature region. The electrical conductivities increased with increasing Mn mol% and $PO_2$, indicating that all the specimens were p-type semiconductors. At $PO_2$'s below $10^{-3}$ atm, the electrical conductivity was affected by the chemisorption of oxygen molecule in the temperature range of 660 to 850$^{\circ}C$. It is suggested that electron holes generated by oxygen incorporation into the oxide are charge carriers for the electrical conduction in the high-temperature region and the system includes ionic conduction owing to the diffusion of oxygen atoms in the low-temperature region.