ELECTRONIC TRANSPORT-PROPERTIES OF LAXY1-XAL2 ALLOYS

Transport properties of quasi-binary LaxY1-xAl2 alloys are presented over a wide temperature range from 4.2 to 1000 K. The observed non-linearity of the temperature-dependent electrical resistivity rho and thermopower S is interpreted as originating from density-of-states (DOS) structures near the Fermi energy E(F). On the basis of the linear Boltzmann transport equation, an energy-dependent function phi(epsilon) is calculated from the experimental rho(T) and S(T) behaviour. Characteristics of the DOS can be compared directly with phi(epsilon); such a comparison with available theoretical DOS calculations is given. The change in DOS with alloy composition and the effect of impurity scattering on the electrical resistivity and thermopower are discussed.