Temperature and magnetic field dependence of the electronic and lattice conductivities of tin from 1.3 to 6°K

Abstract

Extensive results are presented for the measurement of the components of the electrical- and thermal-resistivity tensors of pure tin in transverse magnetic fields up to 100 kG. The temperature dependence was studied between 1.5 and 6 K. From the thermal-resistivity measurements, the lattice conductivity of tin has been extracted. The results indicate that the lattice conductivity in the basal plane is significantly different from that obtained from dilute alloys. To study the temperature dependence of the electronic, electrical, and thermal conductivities it is necessary to neglect certain terms which arise in the inversion of the resistivity tensors. Within this approximation the temperature dependences are in agreement with Wagner's suggestion that the conductivities in the magnetic field should be simply related to the resistivities in zero field. The Lorenz number in a magnetic field is found to be field independent at high fields, and an increasing function of temperature.