Formation of Potential Barrier Related to Grain‐Boundary Character in Semiconducting Barium Titanate

Resistance–temperature ( R – T ) characteristics were measured directly at single‐grain boundaries in 0.1‐mol%‐niobium‐doped barium titanate bicrystals that had been fabricated from polycrystalline sinters, to determine a geometrical grain‐boundary character dependence of the positive temperature coefficient of resistivity (PTCR) effect. Both random boundaries and low‐Σ boundaries exhibit a similar grain‐boundary character dependence of the PTCR effect through a simple geometrical analysis, using the coincidence of reciprocal lattice points. Differences of the R – T characteristics in individual boundaries have been explained in terms of the formation of a potential barrier that is associated with the oxidation of grain boundaries during cooling, after sintering or annealing. The grain‐boundary character is likely to affect the diffusivity of O 2− ions and, hence, is crucial to the formation of the potential barrier.