Electronic properties of liquid Ag-CuTe and Cu-AgTe systems

Measurements of the electrical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility and thermoelectric power in liquid Ag-CuTe and Cu-AgTe systems have been made over a wide composition range. Both systems show a minimum in conductivity and a sharp maximum in diamagnetic susceptibility at the stoichiometric composition of AgCuTe, corresponding to the occurrence of electron localization. The nonmetallic nature of Ag-Te bonds with partial ionicity plays a preferential role in electron localization. On the other hand, the thermoelectric power in both systems gives a positive maximum near the composition of AgCuTe, which corresponds well to the anomalous composition dependence of the thermoelectric power found in the liquid Cu-Te system. This result suggests that the functional form of the electron density of states near the Fermi level is similar between liquid AgCuTe and liquid Cu2Te. These electronic properties are discussed in the light of the strong scattering regime for electrons employed in liquid semiconductors.