Conductivity Anisotropy and Localization of Charge Carriers in TlInTe[sub 2] Single Crystals

Abstract

The electrical resistivity of TlInTe2 chain-structure semiconductors in directions parallel and perpendicular to the chains is analyzed as a function of temperature. It is demonstrated that, in both cases, the temperature dependences of the electrical resistivity in the temperature range under investigation are characterized by two portions associated with different mechanisms of electrical conduction. In the high-temperature range, the electrical conduction is predominantly provided by thermally excited impurity charge carriers in the allowed band. In the low-temperature range, the conduction occurs through charge carrier hopping between localized states lying in a narrow energy band near the Fermi level. The activation energy for impurity conduction is determined. The localization lengths and the density of localized states near the Fermi level, the spread in energies of these states, and the average carrier-hopping distances are estimated for different temperatures.