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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Investigation of the Metal-to-Semiconductor Transition in Crystalline CdO
Physical Review B
  • R. P. Benedict
  • David C. Look, Wright State University - Main Campus
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-1970
Abstract

Measurements of the Cd113 nuclear-spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) and resonance frequency shift (K) were carried out in several samples of polycrystalline n-type CdO over the temperature (T) range 1.4-300°K, frequency (ν) range 2-10 MHz, and carrier concentration (Ne) range 3.3-44×1018 cm-3. For Ne>1019 cm-3, we find that T1∝Ne-2/3T-1 and K∝Ne1/3, showing that the nuclei are interacting with degenerate conduction electrons. Furthermore, the Korringa relationship holds and the calculated electron density at a nucleus is almost the same as that in a free atom, indicating that the electrons are in the host-lattice conduction band. The Hall constant is independent of temperature, also suggesting that there is no separate impurity band. Conversely, for Ne<1019 cm-3 none of the above-mentioned relationships holds and we must invoke a model in which the electrons are concentrated near impurity centers, forming an impurity band, with nuclei near the centers experiencing strong contact interactions while nuclei far from the centers experience only indirect interactions through nuclear-spin diffusion. These two groups of nuclei do not maintain a common spin temperature and thus the recovery of the magnetization is nonexponential. Finally, the concentration (N) at which the impurity wave functions no longer form a band is estimated from the Mott criterion to be about 2×1018 cm-3, slightly below our lowest-concentration sample. Thus, assuming that Ne≃N, we find that for N<2×1018 cm-3 the impurity wave functions are localized, for 2×101819 cm-3 the electrons are free to move in an impurity band, and for N>1019 cm-3 the Fermi level crosses into the host-lattice conduction band.

Comments

Copyright © 1970 The American Physical Society.

Benedict, R. P., & Look, D. C., Physical Review B, 2 (12), 4949-4959, 1970.

The following article appeared in Physical Review B 2(12), and may be found at http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.2.4949.

DOI
10.1103/PhysRevB.2.4949
Citation Information
R. P. Benedict and David C. Look. "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Investigation of the Metal-to-Semiconductor Transition in Crystalline CdO" Physical Review B Vol. 2 Iss. 12 (1970) p. 4949 - 4959 ISSN: 1098-0121
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david_look/406/