Hall Coefficients of Cu, Ag, and Au in the Range 4.2-300°K

Abstract

The Hall coefficient $R$ of high-purity polycrystalline group-$\mathrm{I}B$ metals and some single-crystal Cu samples has been determined with high precision in the approximate temperature range 4.2-300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K and in a magnetic field of 15 kG. The general temperature dependence of $R$ for each $\mathrm{I}B$ metal can be explained for temperatures down to about 50\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K in terms of what is known about the electronic relaxation times associated with different electron scattering processes. But at lower temperatures these data show a new behavior: The $|R|$-versus-temperature curve for each metal shows an apparent maximum centered at about 40\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. Experiments are described which show this is not a sample-size effect, not an effect of trace impurities, but probably a result of a phonon-drag contribution to $R$. The work has involved similar measurements of some very dilute $\mathrm{Ag}\mathrm{Au}$, $\mathrm{Ag}\mathrm{Zn}$, and $\mathrm{Ag}\mathrm{Cd}$ alloys.