Transport Properties of Silver Telluride in the Solid and Liquid States

Abstract Measurements of the electrical resistivity, Hall coefficient, and thermoelectric power have been carried out for silver telluride over a large temperature range including both solid and liquid states. The analysis of the experimental data shows that in the solid state the transport properties are governed by an ambipolar process with an electron mobility much higher than the hole mobility (μ n = 10 μ p ). It is found that the temperatur dependence of the electron mobility can be represented by a T −3 ‐law. Deviations from the stoichimetric composition of Ag 2 Te have been studied. For all specimens, melting is accompanied by discontinuous variations in the transport propeties. Above the melting point, the magnitude of the measured parameters and their temperature dependence show that liquid silver telluride behaves as a semiconductor. The contribution of Ag + ions to transport phenomena is suggested to account for the behaviour of the electrical properties. Experimental data have been analysed in terms of conventional theories.