ac conductance of surface layer in lithium tetraborate single crystals

ac conductance for the electrode effect in Li2B4O7 single crystal was investigated by use of a coplanar electrode applied on the surface of a (001) plate. A coplanar electrode in this material more clearly shows conduction of the electrode effect than a conventional parallel planar electrode. The electrode effect in ac conductance is likely to be controlled by the surface layer, which is a poorly conductive depletion layer possibly filled with vacancies of lithium ions. We found that the surface layer is not locally distributed near the electrodes, but, rather, on the broad area of the surface (001) plane of the material. So we conclude that the electrode effect in ac conduction of Li2B4O7 single crystal is mainly due to the poor conductive surface layer distributed over the whole surface of the (001) plane and is not a secondary phase formed by reaction with the electrode material.