Debye Temperature for Cadmium Derived from Low-Temperature Specific-Heat Measurements

Abstract

The low-temperature specific heat of cadmium in its normal state has been measured between 1.5 and about 4.2°K and may be expressed in the form $C=\gamma T+\alpha T^3+\beta T^5$. Using as the electronic specific-heat coefficient, $\gamma$, the value of 0.6845±0.0109 mJ ${\mathrm{deg}}^{-2\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{}\left(\mathrm{mole}\right)\mathrm{}}^{-1\mathrm{}}$ recently reported by Martin for the temperature range 0.4 to 1.5°K, the other coefficients are: $\alpha =0.1837\mathrm{}\pm 0.0070$ mJ ${\mathrm{deg}}^{-4\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{}\left(\mathrm{mole}\right)\mathrm{}}^{-1\mathrm{}}$ and $\beta =0.0098\mathrm{}\pm 0.0010$ mJ ${\mathrm{deg}}^{-6\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{}\left(\mathrm{mole}\right)\mathrm{}}^{-1\mathrm{}}$. The calorimetric Debye temperature, ${{\Theta }_0}^C$, is 219.5±2.7°K which agrees satisfactorily with the elastic value, ${{\Theta }_0}^E$, of 213±1°K. In the light of this agreement, the apparent discrepancies between ${{\Theta }_0}^C$ and ${{\Theta }_0}^E$ for cadmium cited in earlier literature are probably not significant.