STRESS-INDUCED RESISTIVITY ANOMALY IN SEMICONDUCTING BARIUM-TITANATE CERAMIC WIRE

Thin, semiconducting BaTiO3 ceramic wires prepared in the present stud y exhibited reversible stress-induced, nonlinear current-voltage chara cteristics across several grain boundaries, A remarkable change in res istance with the application (by the three-point bending method) of on ly similar to 1% tensile deformation indicated that the BaTiO3 wires m ay have potential as stress-sensing devices, Resistance in the BaTiO3 wires both increased and decreased with increasing tensile stress para llel to the electric fields, far below the ferroelectric transition te mperature, T-c; in Sr-substituted wires near T-c, on the other hand, r esistance only increased, Detailed studies of the patterns and fluctua tion of polarization at grain boundaries could be meaningful, because stress-sensing characteristics may be induced by changes in the relati ve angle between polarization vectors of adjacent grains.