Effect of microstructure and fusion temperature on the electrical and optical properties of vanadate glasses

The electrical and optical properties of binary semiconducting oxide glasses containing 45 mol % V₂O₅ and 55 mol % GeO₂ fused and equilibrated at various temperatures (T) in air were measured.T was varied over the range from 1000 to 1350° C. Their electrical and optical properties are shown to be sensitive to microstructure and melt temperature. We suggest that the change inT caused progressive microstructure changes of these glasses, which dramatically affected the electronic conductivity and the activation enthalpy for conduction.