Polycrystalline bismuth films: correlation between grain structure and electron transport

Abstract

Grain structure and the temperature dependences of resistivity, magnetoresistance, Hall and Seebeck coefficients measured in the range from 4 to 300 K were investigated for polycrystalline bismuth films obtained by the melt spinning (MS) and electrochemical deposition (ECD) methods. Charge-carrier concentration and mobilities were calculated assuming the carrier scattering on acoustic deformation potential as the dominant scattering mechanism, parabolicity of holes dispersion law, implying the Lax model for L-band electrons and neglecting the influence of L-band holes on conductivity. The experimental results and calculations have demonstrated that the electrical properties of the Bi films studied are strongly affected by the grain-boundary density.