Electric Conductivity Studies of p‐GaTe Polycrystals and Single Crystals in Strong Electric Fields

It is shown that in the temperature range 77 to 220 °K and under fields increasing to 3 × 104 V/cm, conduction both of polycrystalline p‐GaTe and of the single crystal increases according to Frenkel's formula {article}{empty}{document}(σ = σ ₀ \, eβ √ E){document} . From the formula {article}{empty}{document}β = √e³ kT√ ε{document} and by determing the slope of the isotherms lg σ=f(√E), the dielectric constants of p‐GaTe, pertaining to the electric part of polarization, are found to be equal to six and four both along and the layers, respectively. By extrapolating with respect to the cross‐over point of isopotentials lg σ = f(1/T), the metallization temperature TM = 20000 °K is determined, from which the value of kTM = 1.74 eV is found. This agrees with the value for the gap width of p‐GaTe at absolute zero. By extrapolating the isotherms and finding a consistent solution to thier equation for the electric strength, a value is obtained which is approximately equal to 6.5 × 105 V/cm.