The effect of sintering temperature on varistor characteristics of gallium arsenide–polyaniline–polyethylene composite varistors

GaAs-polymer composite varistors were prepared by hot pressing at a pressure of 60 MPa and different temperatures and their current–voltage characteristics were investigated. The results show that these varistors can be used to protect circuits from 46 V up to 54 V over voltages. In addition, it is found that the varistor breakdown voltage and its nonlinearity as well as its impurity band gap increase by increasing sintering temperature while the corresponding barrier height decreases. Each sample has hysteresis which decreases through the increase in sintering temperature. This causes the varistors to have longer lifetime due to their low degradation. Finally, the analysis of composite samples by scanning electron microscopy is presented and discussed.