Effect of Oxygen on Some Electrical Properties of Selenium

It is established several, previously obscure, properties of selenium are due to the presence of oxygen and to oxygen complex formation. The properties include the appearance of an extremum in the curves of the concentration dependence of electroconductivity (σ), thermoelectromotive force (θ), thermal conductivity (λ), density (Q), mechanical strength, activation energy during self diffusion (λE), and microhardness (H). Other properties are the shift of the second maximum in the photoconductivity curve during the introduction of different admixtures, the decrease of σ and θ during melting, and the instability of the parameters of selenium instruments.