Abstract
This study introduces a new investigation report on the microstructural and electrical property changes of $ZnO-Zn_2BiVO_6-Mn_3O_4$ (ZZMn), where 0.33 mol% of $Mn_3O_4$ and 0.5 mol% of $Zn_2BiVO_6$ were added to ZnO (99.17 mol%) as liquid phase sintering aids. $Zn_2BiVO_6$ contributes to the decrease of sintering temperatures by up to $800^{\circ}C$, and segregates its particles at the grain boundary, while $Mn_3O_4$ enhances ${\alpha}$, the nonlinear coefficient, of varistor properties up to ${\alpha}=62$. In comparison, when the sintering temperature is increased from $800^{\circ}C$ to $1,000^{\circ}C$, the resistivity of ZnO grains decreases from $0.34{\Omega}cm$ to $0.16{\Omega}cm$, and the varistor property degrades. Oxygen vacancy ($V_o^{\bullet}$) (P1, 0.33~0.36 eV) is formed as a dominant defect. Two different kinds of grain boundary activation energies of P2 (0.51~0.70 eV) and P3 (0.70~0.93 eV) are formed according to different sintering temperatures, which are tentatively attributed to be $ZnO/Zn_2BiVO_6$-rich interface and ZnO/ZnO interface, respectively. Accordingly, this study introduces a progressive method of manufacturing ZnO chip varistors by way of sintering ZZMn-based varistor under $900^{\circ}C$. However, to procure a higher reliability, an in-depth study on the multi-component varistors with double-layer grain boundaries should be executed.