Hopping conductivity of metal-dielectric nanocomposites produced by means of magnetron sputtering with the application of oxygen and argon ions

Abstract

Testing of electrical properties of nanocomposites (Co0,45Fe0,45Zr0,1)x + (Al2O3)1+x within the concentration range of 0.30 < x < 0.65, produced by means of magnetron sputtering of a target composed of stripes of metallic alloy and dielectric, has been carried out. It has been found that the studied materials contain metallic nanoparticles of a diameter ranging from 6 to 10 nm. Alternating current conduction at x < 0.50 is realized by hopping mechanism while at x > 0.50 metallic conductivity is observed. The obtained results have been analyzed using a model of hopping conductivity in the egime developed earlier. This analysis allowed to extract dependences of activation energy ΔEτ and times τ in a hopping regime after isochronous (15 min) thermal annealings within the range from 293 K to 673 K.