Thermoelectric power of silver alloys at very low temperatures

Abstract

Measurements have been made of the absolute thermoelectric power of alloys of silver with small quantities of various solutes at temperatures between 0·3˚k and 5˚k. The results are analysed in terms of contributions from electron diffusion, phonon drag and anomalous (iron) scattering. It appears that the electron diffusion term for impurity scattering is negative (opposite in sign to that for phonon scattering). The phonon-drag term is much larger in homovalent than in heterovalent alloys, and it is suggested that this effect can be correlated with electron relaxation time anisotropy.