Effect of plastic bending on electron transport in highly compensatedn-type InSb in the temperature range 1.2?300 K

Abstract

Measurements of Hall coefficient, dc conductivity, and magnetoresistance have been made on a highly compensatedn-type InSb sample from liquid helium to room temperature, and the effect of plastic bending of this sample on these transport properties has been studied. The measurements show that the extent of the impurity-band conduction depends considerably on the compensation ratio and the effective concentration of the carriers. The effective carrier concentration and compensation ratio are reduced due to deformation, resulting in a slight reduction of the extent of the impurity-band conduction. Two activation energies have been identified in the impurity-band conduction region for both states of the sample. The behavior of the magnetoresistance for the undeformed and deformed states of the sample is explained on the basis of the two activation energies, the effective carrier concentration, and the compensation ratio.