V. A. Romaka, D. Fruchart, E. K. Hlil, R. E. Gladyshevskii, D. Gignoux, V. V. Romaka, B. C. Kuzhel', R. V. Krayjvskii, “Features of an intermetallic <nobr>$n$</nobr>-ZrNiSn semiconductor heavily doped with atoms of rare-earth metals”, Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, 2010, Volume 44, Issue 3,Pages <nobr>310

This article is cited in 13 papers

Electronic and optical properties of semiconductors

Features of an intermetallic $n$-ZrNiSn semiconductor heavily doped with atoms of rare-earth metals

V. A. Romaka^ab, D. Fruchart^c, E. K. Hlil^c, R. E. Gladyshevskii^d, D. Gignoux^c, V. V. Romaka^d, B. C. Kuzhel'^d, R. V. Krayjvskii^b

^a Ya. S. Pidstryhach Institute for Applied Problems of Mechanics and Mathematics, NAS Ukraine, L'vov
^b Lviv Polytechnic National University
^c Institute Néel, CNRS, BP 166, Grenoble, 38042, France
^d Ivan Franko National University of L'viv

Abstract: The crystal structure, density of electron states, electron transport, and magnetic characteristics of an intermetallic $n$-ZrNiSn semiconductor heavily doped with atoms of rare-earth metals (R) have been studied in the ranges of temperatures 1.5–400 K, concentrations of rare-earth metal 9.5 $\times$ 10$^{19}$–9.5 $\times$ 10$^{21}$ cm$^{-3}$, and magnetic fields $H\le$ 15 T. The regions of existence of Zr$_{1-x}$R$_x$NiSn solid solutions are determined, criteria for solubility of atoms of rare-earth metals in ZrNiSn and for the insulator-metal transition are formulated, and the nature of “a priori doping” of ZrNiSn is determined as a result of redistribution of Zr and Ni atoms at the crystallographic sites of Zr. Correlation between the concentration of the R impurity, the amplitude of modulation of the bands of continuous energies, and the degree of occupation of potential wells of small-scale fluctuations with charge carriers is established. The results are discussed in the context of the Shklovskii–Efros model of a heavily doped and compensated semiconductor.

Received: 16.06.2009
Accepted: 30.06.2009