Particle size effects in thick film resistors

Abstract

This paper describes the effect of conducting oxide particle size on the electrical conduction properties of thick film resistors based on finely divided Bi2Ru2O7 and Pb2Ru2O6. We show that the critical conduction behavior at low conducting oxide concentration can be described as percolative, and that the conducting threshold is lower for smaller particle size. We also measure an increase in the effective activation energies for the low-temperature resistivity, as the conducting oxide particle size decreases. This, we show, is consistent with a tunneling model for conduction in thick-film resistors.