Improving electric-energy transmission performance of Li Ni1-O linear ceramic resistors by Li+/Ni3+ ion occupation regulation for pulsed power technology

Linear ceramic resistor receives extensive attention for its great advantages of fast energy transmission in pulsed power technology. However, the research about improving the linear current-voltage characteristics and pulsed charge-discharge speed of LixNi1-xO solid solution is rarely reported. Herein, we fabricated the LixNi1-xO linear ceramic resistors through a solid-phase reaction method, and the effects of the Li+ ion on the microstructure, current-voltage characteristics and pulsed charge-discharge properties were studied. Specifically, the electron holes exchange between divalent and trivalent nickel ions is enhanced by Li substitution, which contributed to the significantly decreasing in nonlinear coefficient (α) and resistivity. On a separate note, the rising edge of pulse charge-discharge is influenced by the linearity of LixNi1-xO ceramic resistors. The closer the nonlinear coefficient is to 1, the shorter the pulsed charge-discharge time is. Meanwhile, the defect dipoles induced by Li substitution may also contribute to the reduction of discharge time of LixNi1-xO linear ceramic resistors. As a result, the Li0.03Ni0.97O linear ceramic resistor with an excellent nonlinear coefficient of 1.03 exhibits extraordinary fast discharge speed (t0.9 = 94.8 ns) at 1.0 kV. The investigation on LixNi1-xO linear ceramic resistors suggests the potential of this material to be applied in the pulsed power system.