Electrical properties of SiC containing BeO irradiated with electrons and neutrons

The electrical resistivity change caused by electron- and neutron-irradiations at about 300 K was studied with impedance measurements by a two-terminal ac method in hot-pressed SiC with addition of 2 wt% BeO as binder. The resistivity of the samples was increased by the irradiations, and the radiation-induced resistivity showed a maximum at low fluences of about 6x1021 e/m2 for electron-irradiation and about 1x1020 n/m2 (>0.1 MeV) for neutron-irradiation, respectively. The resistivity of irradiated samples was further increased by an anneal between 973 to 1073 K for 1 h after the irradiations, and decreased by an anneal at 1273 K for 1 h. The activation energies of electrical conductivity in the unirradiated, as-irradiated and annealed samples were determined to be 95-137 kJ/mol in the temperature range from 573 to 973 K. (orig.)