Advanced Physical Research

Samples of Ag₈Ge_1-xMn_xTe₆ solid solutions with varying manganese content  (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) were synthesized by fusing and subsequently pressing the powdered precursors under a pressure of 0.6 GPa. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the introduction of manganese atoms led to a compression of the Ag₈GeTe₆ crystal lattice. All p-type samples exhibited high resistance below the transition region, with resistivity values measured in the temperature range of 180–220 K. The electrical conductivity of all compositions in the temperature range of 220–300 K increased via a hopping conduction mechanism, and for temperatures above 320K, semiconductor-like behavior was observed. Impedance spectroscopy analysis showed that at 80 K, the solid solutions exhibited behavior characteristic of a homogeneous dielectric material. At elevated temperatures and under high-frequency external electric fields, the role of grain boundaries in electrical conductivity became significant. Additionally, the dielectric anomaly observed at low frequencies was attributed to the influence of grain boundary effect.