Date of Award

Summer 1961

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Horgan, James D.

Second Advisor

Greener, Evan H.

Third Advisor

Hirthe, Walter M.

Abstract

Experimental observations of the electrical conductivity of sintered Ce02 as a function of oxygen pressure indicates that this material is an "n" type semiconductor. Isothermal current-voltage investigations over the temperature range, 382oC to 866oC showed that currents in excess of ohmic currents can be drawn through these specimens. The bulk material displays ohmic behavior, therefore, these currents can be identified with space-charge-limited currents which depend on the capacitance of the barrier layer at the specimen/electrode junction. Increasing the specimen temperature results in a shift to higher values in the voltage at which the transition from ohmic to non-ohmic behavior takes place and seems to decrease the degree of non-ohmic behavior. The variation in electrical conductivity of cobalt oxide with oxygen pressure indicates that this material is a "p" type semiconductor. Isobaric observations of the electrical conductivity of this oxide between room temperature and 776oC show the presence of several activated processes which could not be identified with a particular defect on the basis of this limited investigation.

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