Oscillatory Thermomagnetic Properties of a Bismuth Single Crystal at Liquid Helium Temperatures

Abstract

Measurements of the thermoelectric power, thermal conductivity, and electrical resistance have been made on a bismuth single crystal in magnetic fields up to 13 kilogauss at liquid helium temperatures. The results for two newly discovered effects, namely the oscillatory magnetic field dependence of both the thermoelectric power and the thermal conductivity, are presented in detail. The crystal was mounted transverse to the field with the trigonal axis parallel to the crystal length. The heat current was also parallel to the crystal length. Most of the data were taken with the magnetic field parallel to one of the crystalline binary axes where only one oscillating component was found. For this orientation the oscillations in the two thermomagnetic properties were periodic in $H^{-1\mathrm{}}$ with a period of 7.1×${10}^{-5\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{gauss}}^{-1\mathrm{}}$. This result is compared to the calculated period obtained from susceptibility oscillations (de Haas-van Alphen effect) of bismuth and found to agree very well. Temperature and field dependence of the amplitude of the oscillatory effects are discussed.