The electronic structure of lithium‐based liquid semiconducting alloys

The resistivity, ρ, and the thermoelectric power, S, for liquid lithium alloys of the type Li x M1-x where 0<x< 1 and M represents a metal whose valence, Z, is in the range 2≤Z≤5, have been measured. It is found that for Z≥3, ρ(x) and S(x) become increasingly different from the predictions of the nearly free electron theory. These data, together with results for the spin-flip scattering cross-section for small amounts of M in liquid Li, are interpreted within the framework of impurity ionicity.