Electronic properties of liquid Ag-CuTe and Cu-AgTe systems

Abstract

Measurements of the electrical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility and thermoelectric power in both liquid Ag–CuTe and Cu–AgTe systems have been made over a wide composition range. Both systems show a marked minimum in electrical conductivity and a sharp maximum in diamagnetic susceptibility at the stoichiometric composition of AgCuTe, corresponding to the severe occurrence of electron localization. From the comparison of electronic properties between the related systems, it was made clear that the nonmetallic nature of Ag–Te bonds with partial ionicity plays a preferential role for the electron localization. On the other hand, the thermoelectric power in both systems gives a positive maximum near the composition of AgCuTe, which corresponds well to the anomalous composition dependence of the thermoelectric power found in the liquid Cu–Te system. This result seems to suggest that the functional form of the electron density of states near the Fermi level is similar between liquid AgCuTe and liquid Cu2Te. Further, these electronic properties were discussed in the light of the current strong scattering regime for electrons employed in liquid semiconductors. © 1989, The Japan Institute of Metals. All rights reserved.