Electrical-transport properties in the semimetallic compound LiGa

Abstract

The temperature-dependent electrical resistivity above 15 K and the room-temperature Hall coefficient of Li-Ga are presented for five different Li concentrations. The temperature-dependent part of the resistivity is independent of the Li concentration. However, the residual resistivity increases very rapidly with increasing Li concentration. These results suggest that the defects in Li-Ga consist of two types, namely, vacancies on the Li sublattice and Li antisite atoms on the Ga sublattice. An anomaly near 230 K is observed for samples for the Li-deficient phase. This anomaly is associated with the ordering of vacancies on the Li sublattice. Li-Ga is a semimetallic compound with a ‘‘hole’’ as the majority carrier.