Seebeck effect in polycrystalline semiconductors

The paper deals with the interpretation of the Seebeck coefficient measured for a polycrystalline semiconductor. Polycrystalline semiconductors are considered to be composed of grains separated from one another by intergrain domains. An isotype heterojunction with a certain density of interface states is assumed to exist at the grain-intergrain domain interface.The general formula for the Seebeck coefficient under these conditions is derived. The relations valid for systems of practical interest are shown as limiting cases of the formula presented.     

Hall effect and magnetoresistance in extrinsic piezoelectric semiconductors

The Hall effect and transverse magnetoresistance in extrinsic piezoelectric semiconductors such as InSb are investigated according to the scattering processes of carriers in semiconductors. These scattering processes contain the acoustic phonon scattering, the piezoelectric scattering, and the ionized-impurity scattering. The energy band structure of carriers in semiconductors is assumed to be nonparabolic. Results show that Hall angle, Hall coefficient, and transverse magnetoresistance depend strongly on the dc magnetic field and carrier density due to the energy-dependent relaxation time. Comparison with experimental data is made. It is also found that the magnetoresistance in degenerate InSb oscillates with the dc magnetic field due to the scattering of carriers with impurities in semiconductors.     

Electrical conductivity of polycrystalline semiconductors

A phenomenological model for the electrical conductivity in polycrystalline semiconductors is presented, using the assumption that an isotype heterojunction with a certain interface state density exists at the grain-intergrain domain interface. Tunnelling, thermionic emission of carriers through the intergrain barriers and ohmic conductivity of the heterojunction are all considered as possible charge transfer mechanisms. Explicit calculations are performed for wide-gap n-type semiconductors and a general expression is derived for the electrical conductivity. It is shown that the known models of Petritz and van den Broek, and also the expression for the conductivity of monocrystalline semiconductors, are special limiting cases of the theory presented.     

Influence of energy bands on the Hall effect in degenerate semiconductors

The influence of energy bands on the Hall effect and transverse magnetoresistance has been investigated according to the scattering processes of carriers in degenerate semiconductors such as InSb. Results show that the Hall angle, Hall coefficient, and transverse magnetoresistance depend on the dc magnetic field for both parabolic and nonparabolic band structures of semiconductors and also depend on the scattering processes of carriers in semiconductors due to the energy-dependent relaxation time. From our numerical analysis for the Hall effect, it is shown that the conduction electrons in degenerate semiconductors play a major role for the carrier transport phenomenon. By comparing with experimental data of the transverse magnetoresistance, it shows that the nonparabolic band model is better in agreement with the experimental work than the parabolic band model of semiconductors.     

Theoretical analysis of the Hall effect in thin polycrystalline metallic films

In polycrystalline films where three types of scattering processes (background, grainboundaries and external surfaces scatterings) are taking place at the same time an effective relaxation time is defined in the light of a three-dimensional model of grain-boundaries. Analytical expressions for the Hall coefficient and conductivity in thin polycrystalline metallic films subjected to a transverse magnetic field are then derived by using the Boltzmann transport equation. Previously published data can be theoretically interpreted in terms of the proposed model.     

Electric field control photo-induced Hall currents in semiconductors

We generate spin-polarized carrier populations in GaAs and low temperature-grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) by circularly polarized optical beams and pull them by external electric fields to create spin-polarized currents. In the presence of the optically generated spin currents, anomalous Hall currents with an enhancement with increasing doping are observed and found to be almost steady in moderate electric fields up to 120 mV μm⁻¹, indicating that photo-induced spin orientation of electrons is preserved in these systems. However, a field 300 mV μm⁻¹ completely destroys the electron spin polarization due to an increase of the D’yakonov–Perel’ spin precession frequency of the hot electrons. This suggests that high field carrier transport conditions might not be suitable for spin-based technology with GaAs and LT-GaAs. It is also demonstrated that the presence of the excess arsenic sites in LT-GaAs might not affect the spin relaxation by Bir–Aronov–Pikus mechanism owing to a large number of electrons in n-doped materials.     

Electrical properties of polycrystalline silicon and zinc oxide semiconductors

Polycrystalline silicon and zinc oxide ceramic are important electronic materials. The electrical properties which determine the applications of polycrystalline silicon in integrated circuits and solar cells and that of ZnO ceramic in varistors are due primarily to grain boundary effects in them. A large amount of information in this area has already been gathered in literature but the quantitative understanding of grain boundary effects in these materials is not yet complete. In this review the important aspects of grain boundaries and their effects on transport and photoelectric properties of polycrystalline silicon and on the I–V characteristic of ZnO varistors are discussed. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Redox processes at grain boundaries in barium titanate-based polycrystalline ferroelectrics semiconductors

Barium titanate, which is characterized by a positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PTCR), is widely used in practice. At the same time, it is unknown why only a small percentage of the introduced donor dopant takes part in the formation of PTCR effect, which phases appear at grain boundaries, how the introduced acceptor dopants affect the properties of grains. Elucidation of the above questions is of considerable scientific and practical interest. It has been shown that the phases Bа₆Ti₁₇O₄₀ and Y₂Ti₂O₇ precipitate on grains of barium titanate doped with donor dopant (yttrium). We identified paramagnetic impurities (iron, manganese, chromium) in starting reagents. These impurities can occupy titanium sites. Therefore, the part of the donor dopant that is spent on the charge exchange of acceptor dopants does not participate in the charge exchange of titanium Ti⁴⁺ → Ti³⁺, which is responsible for the appearance of PTCR effect in barium titanate. It has been found that an extra acceptor dopant (manganese) is distributed mainly at grain boundaries and in the grain outer layer. It has been shown that manganese ions introduced additionally (as acceptor dopants) increase the potential barrier at grain boundaries and form a high-resistance outer layer in PTCR ceramics. The resistance of grains, outer layers, and grain boundaries as a function of the manganese content has been investigated.

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La0.7-xNdxBa0.3MnO3纳米颗粒的居里温度与磁热效应

用溶胶-凝胶法制备了La0.7-xNdxBa0.3MnO3(x=0,0.05,0.10,0.15,0.20,0.25)多晶纳米颗粒,用XRD分析其相结构并计算晶格常数,用VSM测量样品的磁性能并计算磁熵变和居里温度.结果表明,La-Ba-Mn-O系列中适当的Nd掺杂可调整材料的居里温度至室温附近并有效提高其磁熵变.文中对于Nd掺杂对居里温度和磁熵变影响的机理进行了定性的分析.     

Hall coefficient of thin polycrystalline metallic films in a three-dimensional scattering model

A three-dimensional grain boundary model can be used to calculate the transport properties of fine-grained films where background and grain boundaries scattering processes occur simultaneously. In the absence of a magnetic field a total relaxation time which is related to the grain size D and to the transmission coefficient t of electrons through grain boundaries is defined. Using the Boltzmann transport equation analytical expressions are easily derived for the Hall coefficient and conductivity in polycrystalline films subjected to a transverse magnetic field. The Hall coefficient is independent of both the grain parameters and the strength of the magnetic field whereas the film resistivity depends markedly on the grain size D and the transmission coefficient t. Some experimental data on polycrystalline films can be interpreted on the basis of these theoretical predictions.     

Thermovoltaic effect in polycrystalline samarium sulfide

A thermovoltaic effect has been observed for the first time in a polycrystalline sample of samarium sulfide (SmS) with artificially created concentration gradient of excess (overstoichiometric) samarium ions, in which an electric voltage of 12–22.5 mV was generated in a temperature interval of 370–485 K. It is shown that the specific voltage generation in SmS due to the thermovoltaic effect can be observed in a temperature range of 100–1800 K.     

Spin Hall effect devices

The spin Hall effect is a relativistic spin-orbit coupling phenomenon that can be used to electrically generate or detect spin currents in non-magnetic systems. Here we review the experimental results that, since the first experimental observation of the spin Hall effect less than 10 years ago, have established the basic physical understanding of the phenomenon, and the role that several of the spin Hall devices have had in the demonstration of spintronic functionalities and physical phenomena. We have attempted to organize the experiments in a chronological order, while simultaneously dividing the Review into sections on semiconductor or metal spin Hall devices, and on optical or electrical spin Hall experiments. The spin Hall device studies are placed in a broader context of the field of spin injection, manipulation, and detection in non-magnetic conductors.     

Electrical size effect in polycrystalline vanadium films

The electrical size effect of polycrystalline vanadium films evaporated onto molybdenum glass substrates at a temperature of 293 K was examined in vacuum at 10⁻¹⁰Torrin situ. It has been shown that grain-boundary scattering and additional defects (absorbed foreign atoms) scattering are considerable and they cannot be neglected. On the basis of the electrical size effect the electron mean free path for the temperature range 293 to 575 K has been found to vary from 12.3×10⁻¹⁰ to 7.7×10⁻¹⁰m.     

Hall effect in chromium-copper alloy films

Chromium-copper alloy was deposited in thin film form by vapor deposition at room temperature onto well cleaned glass substrates at a pressure of 10⁻⁵ Pa. The polycrystalline alloy thus formed was vacuum annealed up to a temperature of 525 K. Hall coefficient R_H and Hall mobility μ have been measured for annealed polycrystalline chromium-copper alloy films at 300 K. Below 50 nm, a film thickness dependence (size effect) was observed. Data on polycrystalline alloy film agree well with Sondheimer theory for perfect diffuse scattering so that the best fit mean free path value can be calculated. The calculated mean free path value (37 nm) agrees fairly well with the mean free path value reported from electrical resistivity data (37.6 nm) and temperature coefficient of resistivity data (36.3 nm) for perfect diffuse scattering. The decline of the Hall mobility is expected theoretically. The bulk Hall coefficient and bulk mobility of the alloy can be predicted from the experimental data and comes out to be −5.2 × 10⁻⁵ cm³/coulomb and 13.57 cm²/v-sec respectively. The results are discussed.     

Developments in the quantum Hall effect

The most important applications of the quantum Hall effect (QHE) are in the field of metrology. The observed quantization of the resistance is primarily used for the reproduction of the SI unit ohm, but is also important for high precision measurements of both the fine structure constant and the Planck constant. Some current QHE research areas include the analysis of new electron-electron correlation phenomena and the development of a more complete microscopic picture of this quantum effect. Recently, scanning force microscopy (SFM) of the potential distribution in QHE devices has been used to enhance the microscopic understanding of current flow in quantum Hall systems. This confirms the importance of the theoretically predicted stripes of compressible and incompressible electronic states close to the boundary of the QHE devices.