Abstract
Total and partial ionic and electronic -axis dc conductivities were measured for single-crystal :8 ppm Mg as a function of oxygen pressure and temperature. The sample is unsaturated at °C but is saturated in equilibrium with a spinel precipitate phase at lower temperatures. The results are analyzed to give ionic mobility, thermodynamic parameters of oxidation reduction of , and the solubility of MgO as a function of temperature. Oxidized samples are grayish purple due to the presence of a broad absorption band with maximum at 480 nm. Discoloration can occur by reduction (at high temperature) or by precipitation (at °C); both proceed from the surface, involving migration of oxygen out of or of Al into the crystal. An explanation for the rapid diffusion regulating precipitation below 1000 °C is proposed. Recoloration at low temperature proceeds without a front and possibly involves oxygen diffusing into the sample along dislocations or subgrain boundaries. Hole-release studies at low temperature indicate that the hole binding energy in the defect , eV. The combined results of the present work suggest that free holes move as large, rather than small, polarons and that eV.
- Received 15 March 1982
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.27.3821
©1983 American Physical Society