Electrically active defects in BiSiO crystals undoped and doped with Cr and Mn ions

Abstract: The influence of doping of Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ (BSO) with chromium and manganese ions on the thermal depolarization currents (TDCs) is investigated. Measurements are performed in the temperature interval 300–800 K as the preliminary polarization temperature is varied in the range T _p=300–523 K. It is shown that doping significantly alters the structure of the TDC spectra. The Cr and Mn ions produce a set of new peaks over the entire investigated temperature range. The thermal activation energies are 0.85–1.98 eV (BSO:Cr) and 0.58–1.72 eV (BSO:Mn). Another consequence of doping is an increase in the amplitudes of the peaks and the charge accumulated during preliminary polarization.