Proton mobility in solids. Part 2.—Dielectric and diffusion measurements in boehmite

Abstract

Dielectric measurements performed on compressed boehmite pellets have revealed a well-marked absorption process by ion-pair defects. The activation energy of these defects is almost the same as that obtained for the deuteron diffusion in the lattice. This suggests ion pair defects being responsible for the diffusion process. The formation energy of these defects, as obtained from dielectric measurements, is in good agreement with previous calculations which had shown that the tunnelling probability (per stretching period) through the potential barrier along the OH…O linkage was close to one at the energy level located 0.48 eV above the fundamental level.