On Electrical Resistivity and Hall Coefficient of PbTe Crystals

The electrical resistivity and Hall coefficient of p -type synthetic PbTe crystals and those after heat treatment in the air were measured at various temperatures down to liquid air temperature. By heat treatment at moderate temperature in the air the resistivity and Hall coefficient of the crystals increased. An analysis of the data on Hall coefficient shows that the intrinsic energy gap is about 0.3 ev. and the mobility ratio b =µ e /µ n is about 2.5 at 300°∼400°K. The activation energy of the acceptor levels is very small. The mobility of the hole is approximately proportional to T -5/2 . Discussions concerning this question are presented.

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