The magnetic properties of bismuth I—Dependence of susceptibility on temperature and addition of other elements

Abstract

Recent theoretical work by Peierls and by Jones has shown that the anomalous behaviour of bismuth is probably due to the critical nature of its electronic structure. One consequence of this is that the electronic structure of pure bismuth is very sensitive to the addition of small concentrations of other elements, and Goetz and Focke have shown that this sensitivity is reflected in the magnetic properties, while Thompson,§ more recently, has shown in the electrical properties also. Since the effect of such admixtures is essentially to vary the electronic structure of the bismuth, a study of their influence on various physical phenomena may be expected of yield information both about the electronic structure and about the mechanism of the phenomena. We have investigated from this point of view the nature of the temperature dependence of the susceptibility of bismuth, and also the periodic field dependence of susceptibility at low temperatures discovered by de Haas and van Alphen; in both cases, no very detailed interpretation of the results is at present possible, but it is to be hoped that the experimental data will be of use in guiding future theoretical development.