Transport Properties and Viscosity of Liquid CdTe Doped with In, Ge, and Sn

Abstract

Data are presented on the high-temperature electrical conductivity, thermoelectric power (up to 1825 K), and viscosity (up to 1400 K) of undoped and doped (In, Ge, and Sn) CdTe melts. All of the materials were found to retain semiconducting properties upon melting, with a gradual increase in the contribution of metallic bonding, especially pronounced for the CdTe + 2 mol % Sn melt. The results are interpreted in terms of the double-structured melt model, which considers the coexistence of densely packed metallic regions and crystal-like CdTe clusters. The transition to metallic behavior of conductivity is accounted for by a gradual increase in the volume fraction of the densely packed, metallic phase. The doping effects on the conductivity and thermoelectric power of liquid CdTe are interpreted in terms of s–p hybridization.