Percolative Conduction in Semiconducting Liquid Selenium-Thallium Mixtures

Abstract

We report accurate measurements of the electrical conductivity of the semiconducting liquid ${\mathrm{Tl}}_x{\mathrm{Se}}_{1-x}$ over the temperature range $250°\mathrm{C}\lesssim T\lesssim 500°\mathrm{C}$, and composition range $0.002<~x<~0.377$ (as well as $x=0\mathrm{}$). The conductivity is thermally activated for all temperatures and compositions studied and its behavior is consistent with a changeover in conduction mechanism as $x$ increases from zero. We interpret the $x>\mathrm{}0\mathrm{}$ results in terms of percolative hopping.