Sign reversal of the hall effect in rhodium

Abstract

Measurements of the Hall effect in rhodium have been made at temperatures between 4.2°K and 300°K in fields up to 22 kilogauss. At room temperature the Hall voltage is linear in field, but at lower temperatures non-linearity becomes apparent at higher fields. At 20.4° and 4.2°K the Hall voltage has a maximum at about 8 kilogauss, decreasing with further increase of field and changing sign at about 18 kilogauss. The low-field Hall coefficient (which has the value + 5.02 × 10 −13 volt cm amp −1 gauss −1 at 300°K) varies only slightly with temperature, having a shallow minimum at about 60°K. The results can be fitted quite closely by expressions of the form given by theoretical models, and the significance of the values required for the parameters in these expressions is discussed in terms of reasonable models for the electronic structure of rhodium. The results of magneto-resistance measurements on the same specimen are not as conveniently described by theoretical expressions as are the Hall effect data.