Temperature Dependence of the Resistivity and Seebeck Coefficient of Individual Single-Crystal Bismuth Nanowires of 345-nm and 594-nm Diameters Encased in a Quartz Template

Abstract

Temperature dependence measurements of resistivity and the Seebeck coefficient were performed using individual bismuth nanowires of 345-nm and 594-nm diameters encased in a quartz template. Each nanowire was confirmed as a single crystal by Laue measurement, and an advanced mean free path model was utilized to explain both temperature dependencies. The model successfully explains the dependence over 100 K, which occurs because the carrier mobility is restricted by boundary scattering at the nanowire surface considering the crystal orientation along the wire length direction, band structure, and isotropic Fermi surface. However, it is difficult to determine the temperature dependence of the resistivity in the low-temperature region, in which a much higher temperature coefficient is indicated, especially at temperatures lower than 50 K. Although we calculated the temperature dependence of the resistivity with the influence of p-type contamination in the nanowire because a positive Seebeck coefficient at low temperatures was observed, an explanation of the resistivity in the low-temperature region has not been developed. Therefore, a hypothesis was introduced in which the hole mobility was not restricted in the nanowire, and the hole mobility was estimated by the mobility ratio from the Seebeck coefficient, the measured resistivity, and the electron mobility using the model. Lastly, the temperature dependence of the resistivity can be explained over the entire temperature region. This result suggests that the scattering mechanism between holes and electrons in the nanowire differs and depends on the crystal orientation in the low-temperature region.