• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• 제11권5호
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• pp.216-221
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• 2010

The microstructure, electrical properties, and DC-accelerated aging behavior of the Zn-Pr-Co-Cr-Y-Er (ZPCC-YE) varistors were investigated for different amounts of erbium oxide ($Er_2O_3$). The microstructure consisted of zinc oxide grain and an intergranular layer ($Pr_6O_{11}$, $Y_2O_3$, and $Er_2O_3$-rich phase) as a secondary phase. The increase of $Er_2O_3$ amount decreased the average grain size and increased the sintered density. As the $Er_2O_3$ amount increased, the breakdown field increased from 5094 V/cm to 6966 V/cm and the nonlinear coefficient increased from 27.8 to 45.1. The ZPCC-YE varistors added with 0.5 to 1.0 mol% $Er_2O_3$ are appropriate for high voltage, with high nonlinearity and stability against DC-accelerated aging stress.