Ionic motion in materials with disordered structures: conductivity spectra and the concept of mismatch and relaxation

Abstract

Solid electrolytes with disordered structures, both crystalline and glassy, as well as supercooled ionic melts, exhibit surprisingly similar features in their conductivity spectra, σ(ν). This finding suggests that the dynamics of the mobile ions in the different systems should be governed by similar rules. Examples are given in this study, including new results on γ-RbAg₄I₅, β-AgI, and several glassy electrolytes. In spite of their overall similarity, however, the spectra also display characteristic differences in their shapes and in their scaling behaviour, the latter feature causing, e.g., Arrhenius or non-Arrhenius temperature dependences of the dc conductivity. The observed characteristics of the spectra, both the common and the more specific ones, are well reproduced with the help of two coupled rate equations describing the evolution of the ion dynamics with time. This treatment is based on the jump relaxation model, and is called the concept of mismatch and relaxation (CMR).