Carrier Generation in Wide‐Gap Conductor, Zinc Antimonate

Abstract

Mechanisms for carrier generation in zinc antimonate (ZnSb 2 O 6 ) with a wide band gap were examined in relation to its crystallinity. ZnSb 2 O 6 prepared by the reaction of Sb 2 O 5 sol and 3ZnCO 3 ·4Zn(OH) 2 was sintered at 893, 1173, and 1393 K, and characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), electrical conductivity and diffuse reflectance measurements. A higher conductivity was found for ZnSb 2 O 6 sintered at lower temperatures. Rietveld analysis of XRD patterns showed that the cations in conductive ZnSb 2 O 6 occupied irregular sites, similar to the random rutile structure. Electron carriers were also considered to be generated by oxygen vacancies in ZnSb 2 O 6 samples which have a structure similar to the random rutile structure.