Capacitive discharge in flash experiments: A discussion of the charged species

Abstract

We report on the discharge of the capacitance formed at the electrodes in flash experiments with yttria stabilized zirconia. The experiments were carried out by disconnecting the current, and, instead, short circuiting the electrodes through a resistor. The time dependent voltage across the resistor was measured; the ratio yielded the discharge current. The current decayed exponentially with time, as expected in an RC circuit, which allowed the measurement of the capacitance. Experiments were carried out in two ways. In one case the specimens were flashed within a glove box filled with Ar (2): these yielded electronic conductors. In the other case the specimens were flashed in ambient air: while electronically conducting in‐flash these specimens recover their prior insulating behavior as soon as the current is turned off. The stored charge was two orders of magnitude greater in the Ar experiments. Rather unexpectedly, the sign of the voltage expressed at the electrodes was opposite in experiments carried out in air and in Ar. The capacitance measured in the discharge experiments is attributed to the formation of space charge adjacent to the electrodes. In the case of Ar experiments, the capacitance is very large, approaching 1 F; in this case the space charge is expected to be constituted from ions. In the air experiments the specimen becomes insulating, trapping the electrons as a space charge. Hall effect measurements of the carrier density and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization of electronically conducting single crystal specimen of cubic zirconia are reported.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 14, 2023
Source ID
10.1111/jace.19250

Entities

People

  • Ian Andreas Leahy
  • Minhyea Lee
  • Rishi Raj
  • Seohyeon Jo
  • Xavier Vendrell

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • University of Barcelona
  • University of Colorado Boulder

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Semiconductor Device Technology
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster