Conduction in nanostructured La1-x Sr x FeO3 (0 aparts per thousandcurrency sign x aparts per thousandcurrency sign 1)

We investigated electrical properties of nanostructured La1-x Sr (x) FeO3 (0 a parts per thousand currency sign x a parts per thousand currency sign 1) from 300 K-400 K. The nanostructured La1-x Sr (x) FeO3 (0 a parts per thousand currency sign x a parts per thousand currency sign 1) was synthesized by citrate gel method requiring no pH control. X-ray diffraction pattern showed that single phase LaFeO3 with an orthorhombic structure was formed. The structure changed into rhombohedral for x = 0.5 and it became cubic for x = 1.0. For x a parts per thousand currency sign 0.5, our material showed non-linear current-voltage characteristics and for x > 0.5 it showed linear current-voltage characteristics. Poole Frenkel type conduction mechanism was found to be operative in LaFeO3 from 300 K-400 K. The experimental values of field-lowering coefficient were by 2.56-6.41 times higher than the predicted value and were attributed to the presence of localized fields. The increase in conductance with Sr content was due to formation of Fe4+ ions in addition to Fe3+ with the increase in Sr content. Impedance spectroscopy and ac conductivity analysis of La1-x Sr (x) FeO3 (0 a parts per thousand currency sign x a parts per thousand currency sign 1) was also carried out in the temperature range from 300 K-400 K and frequency was varied from 20 Hz - 2 MHz. The ac conduction followed the correlated barrier hopping model in La0.9Sr0.1FeO3.