Polarization processes in silver iodide films near the superionic phase transition temperature

Abstract

The article reports the results of dielectric spectroscopy analysis exploring polarization processes in silver iodide nanocrystalline films in the region of thermal superionic phase transition. It also provides calculations of the system’s relaxation and energy parameters. The abrupt change of parameters at the transition point is demonstrated by activation energy of semiconductor conduction and commit phases, indicator of the degree of frequency dependence of conductivity, and the maximum value of the function of the tangent of the dielectric loss angle. The article proposes a model of the micro-mechanism of the thermal phase transition from a semiconductor to a superionic state. It is shown that, along with the superionic phase transition, films undergo a percolation phase transition with the formation of a two-dimensional percolation cluster.

Keywords

• superionic phase transition
• silver iodide
• dielectric spectroscopy
• polarization processes
• relaxation processes