The Textural Effect of Cu Doping and the Electronic Effect of Ti, Zr and Ge Dopings Upon the Physical Properties of In2O3and Sn-Doped In2O3Ceramics

The electronic properties of Cu-, Ti-, Zr-, and Ge-doped In2O3 (IO) and ITO (Sn-doped In2O3) ceramicsare investigated. We distinguish the different effect of Cu doping (so called the “textural effect”) andof Ti, Zr and Ge dopings (so called the “electronic effect”) of IO and ITO ceramics. Indeed, Cu dopingin IO and ITO enhances the ceramic density and thereby the conductivity due to an increase in thecarrier mobility (grain boundary effect); the absorbance in the visible region is then lowered. Mostinterestingly for Ti-, Zr-, and Ge-doped samples, the increase of conductivity associated with an enlargementof the electron-mobility along with a decrease of the absorbance in the visible, account forthe weak interactions occuring between the conduction-band electrons and the ionized donor centers