The thermal and electrical resistivity of bismuth and antimony at low temperatures

Abstract Measurements are reported of the electrical resistivity of pure polycrystalline specimens of bismuth and antimony over the range 2 to 300°K and of the thermal conductivity up to 150°K. Some measurements in a magnetic field have also been made which allow separation of the thermal conductivity into electronic and lattice components. Below 50°K, it appears that the heat conductivity of bismuth is nearly all due to lattice waves; free electrons seem to contribute little to the conduction or to the scattering. In antimony, however, the lattice conductivity is smaller than might be expected at low temperatures suggesting significant scattering by free electrons. The electronic term, λe, in antimony is remarkably similar in its temperature dependence to that in a monovalent metal. The electrical resistivity of both elements varies as about T 2–75 for T  Θ/10. For bismuth the approximate proportionality of resistivity with temperature observed at normal temperatures extends to rather lower temperatures than ia usual in a metal.