Metal-insulator transitions of SrTi_1-xV_xO₃ solid solution system

Compounds in the solid solution SrTi_1-xV_xO₃ system were synthesized and studied for their conductivity and magnetic properties. The conductivity data show that the compounds with high vanadium content (x > 0.7) are metallic and that the compounds with low x are semiconductors with various conduction mechanisms depending on x. The x = 0.7 compound shows a temperature dependent metal-insulator transition at 120 K. Compared with the literature data on the same system, the present data can be explained with clustering of vanadium atoms that forms discrete vanadium d-bands. A model that involves localized states or bands is proposed to explain the composition and temperature dependent conductivity and magnetic properties of the present data.