Experimental and theoretical field dependences of the thermopower of Pb1-xSnxTe

Abstract

Experimental studies of transport phenomena in Pb1-xSnxTe provide the most complete information on the kinetics and energy spectrum of charge carriers over a wide range of charge carrier concentration, impurities, and temperature. Experimental field dependences of the thermopower of Pb1-xSnxTe with different carrier concentrations were determined at a temperature of 77 K in magnetic fields of up to 3 T; theoretical field dependences were calculated. The dependence of the thermopower on magnetic field exhibited a peak. The nonmonotonic dependence of the thermopower can be attributed to the anisotropy of the electron spectrum, the anisotropy of the electron relaxation time, and the multivalley pattern. The differential thermopower was calculated using the formula given in the paper of V. D. Kagan, N. A. Red'ko, N. A. Rodionov, and V. I. Pol'shin. Satisfactory agreement between theory and experiment was obtained.