Mechanisms of ionic conduction in solid electrolytes

The mechanisms of ionic conduction in solid electrolytes are best studied by taking conductivity spectra, i.e., by measuring frequency (and temperature) dependent ionic conductivities in the entire range from de to the far infrared. Experimental conductivity spectra of solid electrolytes display characteristic patterns, which are presented and interpreted in terms of their generic dynamic processes. The topics considered include the formation and immediate recombination of short-lived Frenkel pairs in AgBr, the process of jump relaxation in structurally disordered RbAg4I5, translational and non-translational ionic hopping in a glassy electrolyte and, for comparison, the corresponding dynamic behaviour of the ions in a molten salt.