Electrical transport measurements in a quasi-onedimensional semiconductor ZrS 3

Abstract

We have used the technique of chemical vapour transport to prepare needle shaped single crystal of ZrS 3. Results of the measurements of d.c. resistivity. Hall coefficient and thermoelectric power of the temperature range 100–500 K are reported. All the samples exhibited semiconducting behaviour with a room temperature resistivity of about 15 Ω-cm and an activation energy of 0.20±0.02 eV. Room temperature thermoelectric power is -850 μVK −1 and the dominant carriers are electrons. The thermoelectric power varies as (1/T), a behaviour associated with a typical semiconductor. Mobility at low temperatures is limited by ionized impurity scattering and is given by μ 1 = 6.5 × 10 −2T 3/2 cm 2V 7-1 sec −1. At high temperatures, phonon scattering is dominant and the mobility is given by μ 2 = 1.35 × 10 +5T −32 cm 2V −1 sec −1.