Research Initiation Grant: Electron Trapping in Zinc Oxide Varistors

氧化锌压敏电阻是商业上重要的分立元件，用于电子电路和电机的浪涌保护。氧化锌颗粒中深电子陷阱的存在可能是影响晶界周围耗尽区在击穿前变窄的速度的因素之一，从而影响响应时间。导纳光谱将被用来表征商业和特殊制造的压敏电阻的陷阱能量、密度、发射率和捕获截面。这些信息将与I-V特性和电压响应时间相关联，以满足目标，此外，还将提供对电子陶瓷一般的扩展理解。

Zinc oxide varistors are commercially important discrete components used for surge protection of electronic circuits and electric machinery. The presence of deep electron traps within the zinc oxide grains could influence the response time by acting as one of the factors which might affect the rate at which the depletion zones surrounding the grain boundaries narrow prior to breakdown. Admittance spectroscopy will be used to characterize trap energy, density, emission rate, and capture cross section on commercial and specially fabricated varistors. The information will be correlated with I-V properties and voltage response times to meet the objective and, additionally, provide an extended understanding of electronic ceramics in general.