Temperature and concentration dependences of the plutonium-americium alloy resistivity at high temperatures

A many-band model of conductivity is stated in terms of which it is shown qualitatively and quantitatively that interference scattering of conduction electrons may be the main reason for the negative temperature coefficient of resistance in actinide alloys at high temperatures (T > Θ_D). The temperature run of the resistivity in such alloys is completely determined by the balance between coherent and incoherent contributions to electron-impurity-phonon scattering. The model is used to analyze the concentration and temperature dependences of the plutonium and americium alloy resistivity.     

Theory of the residual electrical resistivity of binary actinide alloys

A system of self-consistent equations has been proposed for the coherent potential approximation of the multiband conductivity model for the case of conduction electron scattering from chaotic electric fields of ions of disordered binary alloy components at zero temperature. It has been qualitatively demonstrated that the deviation of the concentration dependence of the residual electrical resistivity of actinide alloys with multiband conductivity from the Nordheim rule is caused by the explicit dependence of the electrical resistivity of the alloy on the magnitude and sign of the real part of the Green’s function at the Fermi level. The derived system of equations for the multiband coherent potential approximation has been used to calculate the concentration dependence of the density of states and the residual electrical resistivity of the alloys of neptunium and plutonium. The results of the calculations have been compared with the available experimental data.     

Specific features of charge carrier scattering mechanisms in Co-Cr alloys at high temperatures

The temperature and concentration dependences of the electrical resistivity π and thermal diffusivity a of Co-Cr alloys have been studied at temperatures of 400–1600 K. It has been shown that, as the temperature increases, the specific features of the electrical properties of the alloys are mainly determined by phonon scattering of carriers, and the character of the polytherms and concentration dependences is determined by the multiband scattering mechanism.     

Specific heat and thermal conductivity of superionic conductors in the superionic phase

The temperature dependences of the specific heat and the thermal conductivity of crystalline superionic conductors LnF₃ (Ln = La, Ce, Pr), Li₂B₄O₇ and α-LiIO₃ in the superionic phase have been investigated experimentally. The specific heat C _p and the thermal conductivity K are observed to increase monotonically over a wide range of temperatures above the Debye temperature Θ_D. This increase is attributed to the relaxational interaction of high-frequency phonons with two-level systems. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1548–1553 (September 1997)     

Thermoelectric power and ac conductivity of A-type Nd2O3

Measurement of thermoelectric power Θ of pressed pellets of A-type Nd₂O₃ from 550 to 1180K and electrical conductivity (σ) at dc, 50 Hz, 1.542 kHz and 3 kHz at different temperatures is reported. It is concluded that electrical conduction at high temperature (T>600K) in this solid is due to positive large polarons in O²⁻ : 2p (valence) band and negative intermediate polarons in Nd³⁺ : 5d (conduction band). The energy band gap of the solid has been found to be 2.44 eV. At low temperatures, conduction by hopping of charge carriers from one impurity centre to another has been predicted.     

Transport properties of antiferromagnetic fcc-iron alloys

A study is reported of the electrical resistance and thermopower of Fe_xNi_80−x Cr₂₀ fcc alloys within the 44⩽x⩽70 at. % range. It is shown that, at low temperatures, they typically exhibit minima in the temperature dependences of electrical resistance. The appearance of these anomalies is attributed to the formation of a gap in the conduction electron spectrum due to the onset of long-or short-range antiferromagnetic order in the alloys. The effect of magnetic field on the magnetic states appearing in frustrated antiferromagnetic alloys has been studied, and an H-T magnetic phase diagram constructed. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 101–105 (January 1998)     

Ion conduction and space-charge polarization processes in Li<Subscript>2</Subscript>Ge<Subscript>7</Subscript>O<Subscript>15</Subscript> crystals

The electrical properties of a lithium heptagermanate (Li₂Ge₇O₁₅) crystal have been studied in DC and AC measuring fields at temperatures from 500 to 700 K. In a DC field, a substantial decrease of electrical conductivity σ with time has been detected. On the basis of kinetic dependences σ(t), estimates of the charge carrier diffusion coefficient D have been obtained. In the frequency range 10¹–10⁵ Hz, the spectra of complex impedance ρ*(f) have been measured. The analysis of diagrams in the complex plane (ρ″–ρ′) has been performed within the equivalent circuit approach. It has been shown that, in the considered temperature and frequency intervals, the electrical properties of Li₂Ge₇O₁₅ crystals have been determined by the hopping conduction of interstitial lithium ions A _Li and accumulation of charge carriers near the blocking Pt electrodes.     

Study of europium and selected actinides uptake on composite material CMPO-PAN

Modified CMPO-PAN production was used and the resulting composite material was tested for purposes of extraction chromatography. A commercially avaialble extraction agent octyl(phenyl)-N,N’-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were used. The europium uptake kinetics by composite material was studied in two different nitric acid solutions. The dependences of weight distribution coefficients (D_g) of europium, americium, plutonium, uranium, and neptunium on nitric acid concentration (0.01–5 mol L⁻¹) in the presence of sodium nitrate (0.1 mol L⁻¹) were determined. High D_g-values were found in 0.1–5 M nitric acid for all elements tested. Increase in europium and americium D_g-values with decrease in nitric acid concentration (bellow 0.1 mol L⁻¹) was observed. This behaviour in diluted nitric acid solutions differs from the behaviour of the similar materials with another support. CMPO-PAN composite material was compared with commercially available TRU Resin. D_g-values of the tested elements in all solutions used were higher for CMPO-PAN than for TRU Resin. The retention of the studied elements on CMPO-PAN in hydrochloric acid was made as a screening study.     

Energy filtration of charge carriers in a nanostructured material based on bismuth telluride

The dependences of the electrical conductivity and thermopower on the size of grains in a nanocrystalline material based on Bi₂Te₃-Sb₂Te₃ solid solutions of the p type have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. The relaxation time in the case of hole scattering by nanograin boundaries in an isotropic polycrystal has been calculated taking into account the energy dependence of the probability of tunneling of charge carriers and the dependence of the scattering intensity on the nanograin size L _n . A decrease in the probability of boundary scattering with an increase in the energy of charge carriers leads to an increase in the thermopower. The dependences of the thermopower and electrical conductivity on the nanograin size, which have been obtained taking into account the boundary scattering and scattering by acoustic phonons, are in good agreement with experimental data. For the material under consideration, the thermopower coefficient increases by 10–20% compared to the initial solid solution at L _n = 20–30 nm. This can lead to an increase in the thermoelectric figure of merit by 20–40%, provided that the decrease in the electrical conductivity and the decrease in the lattice thermal conductivity compensate each other. Despite the absence of a complete compensation, it has been possible to increase the thermoelectric figure of merit for the samples under investigation to ZT = 1.10–1.12.     

Electrical properties of amorphous (Co45Fe45Zr10)x(Al2O3)1?x nanocomposites

The electrical properties of (Co₄₅Fe₄₅Zr₁₀)_x(Al₂O₃)_1−x granular nanocomposites have been studied. The concentration dependences of electrical resistivity are S-shaped (in accordance with the percolation theory of conduction) with a threshold at a metallic component concentration of ∼41 at. %. An analysis of the temperature behavior carried out in the range 300–973 K revealed that structural relaxation and crystallization of the amorphous phase are accompanied by a decrease in the electrical resistivity of the composites above the percolation threshold and by its increase below the percolation threshold. For metallic phase concentrations x<41 at. %, variable range hopping conduction over localized states near the Fermi level was found to be dominant at low temperatures (77–180 K). A further increase in temperature brings about a crossover of the conduction mechanism from Mott’s law ln(σ) ∝ (1/T)^1/4 to ln(σ) ∝ (1/T)^1/2. A model of inelastic resonance tunneling over a chain of localized states of the dielectric matrix was used to find the average number of localized states involved in the charge transport between metallic grains. __________ Translated from Fizika Tverdogo Tela, Vol. 46, No. 11, 2004, pp. 2076–2082. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2004 by Kalinin, Remizov, Sitnikov.     

Quantum oscillations of the resistivity and hall coefficient and the quantum limit in Bi<Subscript>0.93</Subscript>Sb<Subscript>0.07</Subscript> alloys in a magnetic field along the trigonal axis

The dependences of the electrical resistivity ρ and the Hall coefficient R on the magnetic field have been measured for single-crystal samples of the n-Bi_0.93Sb_0.07 semiconductor alloys with electron concentrations in the range 1 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³ < n < 2 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³. It has been found that the measured dependences exhibit Shubnikov-de Haas quantum oscillations. The magnetic fields corresponding to the maxima of the quantum oscillations of the electrical resistivity are in good agreement with the calculated values of the magnetic fields in which the Landau quantum level with the number N intersects the Fermi level. The quantum oscillations of the Hall coefficient with small numbers are characterized by a significant spin splitting. In a magnetic field directed along the trigonal axis, the quantum oscillations of the resistivity ρ and the Hall coefficient R are associated with electrons of the three-valley semiconductor and are in phase with the magnetic field. In the case of a magnetic field directed parallel to the binary axis, the quantum oscillations associated both with electrons of the secondary ellipsoids in weaker magnetic fields and with electrons of the main ellipsoid in strong magnetic fields (after the overflow of electrons from the secondary ellipsoids to the main ellipsoid) are also in phase. In magnetic fields of the quantum limit ħω _c /2 ≥ E _F, the electrical conductivity increases with an increase in the magnetic field: σ₂₂(H) ∼ H ^k . A theoretical evaluation of the exponent in this expression for a nonparabolic semiconductor leads to values of k close to the experimental values in the range 4 ≤ k ≤ 4.6, which were obtained for samples of the semiconductor alloys with different electron concentrations. A further increase in the magnetic field results in a decrease of the exponent k and in the transition to the inequality σ₂₂(H) ≤ σ₂₁(H).     

Non-fermi liquid transport in <Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>Co<Subscript>2</Subscript>-based alloys

Results on the experimentally investigated dependence of the electrical resistivity of quasibinary alloys R _x Y_1−x Co₂, where R stands for magnetic rare earth elements, on temperature (2–300 K), composition (x = 0–1), and magnetic field (0–15 T) are presented. Non-Fermi liquid behavior of electrical resistivity in a magnetic field was observed in paramagnetic Gd _x Y_1−x Co₂ alloys. The relative magneto-thermopower of these alloys exhibits diverging behavior with decreasing temperature, indicating anomalous temperature variation of the thermopower in the non-Fermi liquid regime.     

Magnetic and electrical properties of cation-substituted sulfides MexMn1 ? xS (Me = Co, Gd)

The temperature dependences of the specific magnetization σ and the electrical resistivity ρ of Me _x Mn_{1 − x} S single crystals (Me= Co, Gd; x= 0.05) have been studied in the temperature range 80 K < T < 1000 K. The samples under study have revealed the presence of a spontaneous magnetic moment below the Néel temperature (T _N) and ferromagnetic clusters in Gd_0.05Mn_0.95S in the temperature range 146 K < T < 680 K. Substitution of gadolinium for manganese initiates a transition from p-type to n-type conduction. The change in the conduction type is accompanied by an increase in the electrical resistivity at 300 K by approximately one order of magnitude and, accordingly, by a decrease in the activation energy. The magnetic and electrical properties of the crystals under study have been interpreted in terms of the cluster model with temperature-dependent ferromagnetic exchange and an electron localized in this cluster. Original Russian Text ? S.S. Aplesnin, L.I. Ryabinkina, O.B. Romanova, V.V. Sokolov, A.Yu. Pichugin, A.I. Galyas, O.F. Demidenko, G.I. Makovetskiĭ, K.I. Yanushkevich, 2009, published in Fizika Tverdogo Tela, 2009, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 661–664.     

Thermoelectric properties of SnzCo8Sb24 skutterudites

Sn-filled CoSb₃ skutterudite compounds were synthesized by the induction melting process. Formation of a single δ-phase of the synthesized materials was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The temperature dependences of the Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity were examined in the temperature range of 300-700 K. Positive Seebeck and Hall coefficients confirmed p-type conductivity. Electrical resistivity increased with increasing temperature, which shows that the Sn-filled CoSb₃ skutterudite is a degenerate semiconductor. The thermal conductivity was reduced by Sn-filling because the filler atoms acted as phonon scattering centers in the skutterudite lattice. The lowest thermal conductivity was achieved in the composition of Sn_0.25Co₈Sb₂₄.     

Impurity band in SnBi<Subscript>4</Subscript>Se<Subscript>7</Subscript>: thermoelectric power and electrical resistivity measurements

Thermoelectric power and electrical resistivity measurements on polycrystalline samples of Bi₂Se₃ and stoichiometric ternary compound in the quasi-binary system SnSe–Bi₂Se₃ in the temperature range of 90–420 K are presented and explained assuming the existence of an impurity band. The variation of the electron concentration with temperature above 300 K is explained in terms of the thermal activation of a shallow donor, by using a single conduction band model. The density of states effective mass m ^*=0.15m ₀ of the electrons, the activation energy of the donors, their concentration, and the compensation ratio are estimated. The temperature dependence of the electron mobility in conduction band is analyzed by taking into account the scattering of the charge carriers by acoustic phonon, optical phonon, and polar optical phonon as well as by alloy and ionized impurity modes. On the other hand, by considering the two-band model with electrons in both the conduction and impurity bands, the change in the electrical resistivity with temperature between 420 and 90 K is explained.     

Magnetoelastic and elastocaloric effects in rare-earth metals,their alloys and compounds in the region of magnetic phase transitions

This article discusses experimental data and their theoretical interpretation concerning the volume magnetostriction, spontaneous magnetostriction, variation of magnetization under the action of pressure, and elastocaloric effects in rare-earth metals, as well as their alloys and compounds. Particular attention is paid to the region of phase transitions. The volume magnetostriction ω of true magnetization was investigated near the Curie temperature Θ as a function of magnetization and determined from the change of magnetostriction under the action of pressure. From these data we obtained the dependence of the exchange integrals on the unit cell volume. Giant volume magnetostriction and magnetoelastic elastocaloric effects were discovered in the rare-earth metals and alloys in the region of their magnetic phase transitions. It was established that giant volume magnetostriction in RCo₂ compounds is caused by a critical increase of the magnetic moment of the 3d sublattice of cobalt in magnetic fields that exceeds the critical field at T > Θ. Giant volume magnetostriction in R₂Fe₁₇ compounds near the temperature Θ is shown to occur due to strong deformational dependences of exchange interaction and the value of the 3d electron bandwidth.     

Thermal conductivity of crystalline fullerite C60 in the simple cubic phase

The behavior of the thermal conductivity k(T) of bulk faceted fullerite C₆₀ crystals is investigated at temperatures T=8–220 K. The samples are prepared by the gas-transport method from pure C₆₀, containing less than 0.01% impurities. It is found that as the temperature decreases, the thermal conductivity of the crystal increases, reaches a maximum at T=15–20 K, and drops by a factor of ∼2, proportional to the change in the specific heat, on cooling to 8 K. The effective phonon mean free path λ _p, estimated from the thermal conductivity and known from the published values of the specific heat of fullerite, is comparable to the lattice constant of the crystal λ _p∼d=1.4 nm at temperatures T>200 K and reaches values λ_p∼50d at T<15 K, i.e., the maximum phonon ranges are limited by scattering on defects in the volume of the sample in the simple cubic phase. In the range T=25−75 K the observed temperature dependence k(T) can be described by the expression k(T)∼exp(Θ/bT), characteristic for the behavior of the thermal conductivity of perfect nonconducting crystals at temperatures below the Debye temperature Θ (Θ=80 K in fullerite), where umklapp phonon-phonon scattering processes predominate in the volume of the sample. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 8, 651–656 (25 April 1997)     

Low temperature electrical conductivity and magnetoconductivity of Fe39Ni39Mo4Si6B12 and Co58Ni10Fe5Si11B16 metallic glass alloys

A detailed study on the weak localization phenomenon vis-a-vis electron-electron interaction effects in magnetic metallic glasses has been carried out. We measured the electrical conductivity and magnetoconductivity within the temperature range 1.8≤T≤300K. A maximum on the conductivity versus temperature curve exists atT=T _m. The conductivity was observed to follow aT ^1/2 law forT<T _m andT ² law forT>T _m. Magnetoconductivity data of these alloys indicate the prominence of electron-electron interaction at low temperatures. The authors have determined the inelastic scattering field and spin-orbit scattering field from the magnetoconductivity data. The inelastic scattering field obeys aT ^p law (p=2) at low temperatures.     

Localization and correlation effects on the magnetoresistance of a degenerate electron gas in InAs below the quantum limit

Summary Measurements of the resistivity tensor of a range of moderately dopedn-InAs samples were carried out at low temperatures in the ionized impurity scattering regime. Analyses were performed while the electron gas was in a degenerate state and below the quantum limit. The temperature and the magnetic-field dependences of the two components of the resistivity tensor, ϱ_‖ (longitudinal) and ϱ_⊥ (transverse), were discussed in terms of localization and correlation effects.     

Effect of ionizing radiation on the dielectric characteristics of TlInSe<Subscript>2</Subscript> and TlGaTe<Subscript>2</Subscript> single crystals

The temperature dependences of the electrical conductivity and the permittivity of TlInSe₂ and TlGaTe₂ crystals unirradiated and irradiated with 4-MeV electrons at a doze of 10¹⁶ cm⁻² have been investigated. It has been established that electron irradiation leads to a decrease in the electrical conductivity σ and the permittivity ɛ over the entire temperature range under study (90–320 K). It has been revealed that the TlInSe₂ and TlGaTe₂ single crystals undergo a sequence of phase transitions characteristic of crystals of this type, which manifest themselves as anomalies in the temperature dependences σ = f(T) and ɛ = f(T). Electron irradiation at a doze of 10¹⁶ cm⁻² does not affect the phase transition temperatures of the crystals under investigation.