Weak- and strong-field magnetoresistance in (111)-oriented n-type PbTe epitaxial films between 1.8 and 300 K

Abstract

Magnetoresistance measurements on epitaxial PbTe, covering a wide range of temperatures and magnetic field intensities, are reported. Nearly all of the results exhibit a common behavior which depends only on μ_HB, the product of the Hall mobility and magnetic field. The usual quadratic weak‐field dependence is followed by a tendency towards saturation near μ_HB = 1, and by a linear range for μ_HB = 10–300. The relevance of sample inhomogeneities, boundary effects, and quantum‐limit magnetoresistance theories is considered. None of these factors seems capable of explaining the general insensitivity of the results to temperature, scattering mechanisms, and sample profile.