Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
In conductivity spectroscopy, ionic conductivities of solid electrolytes are measured continuously from a few Hertz up to the mid-infrared, i.e., in a frequency range covering more than twelve decades. In this paper we present experimental conductivity spectra of various cryst alline and glassy ionic conductors. Tracing the characteristic patterns of the spectra back to their generic processes provides a powerful means for probing the motion of the ions on atomic scales of space and time. The technique is particularly useful for exploring the single-particle potentials felt by the ions and, hence, for elucidating details of the surrounding structure. In our examples we discuss widths, anisotropies, and geometrical arrangements of sites in crystals as well as the existence of non-equivalent sites in glass.