Electronic properties of Cu2(Zn, Cd)SnS4 determined by the high-field magnetotransport

• Published in: New journal of physics Vol. 24; no. 9; pp. 093008 - 93021
• Main Authors: Lähderanta, Erkki, Hajdeu-Chicarosh, Elena, Kravtsov, Victor, Shakhov, Mikhail A, Stamov, Vladimir N, Bodnar, Ivan V, Arushanov, Ernest, Lisunov, Konstantin G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.09.2022
• Subjects: (Zn, Cd)SnS; Composition; Cu2(Zn, Cd)SnS4; disordered systems; Efficiency; electrical transport; Electronic properties; high magnetic fields; Hopping conduction; Magnetic fields; Magnetic properties; Magnetoresistance; Magnetoresistivity; Metal-insulator transition; Physics; Point defects; Semiconductors; Single crystals; Solid solutions
• ISSN: 1367-2630
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/ac8b9f

Resistivity, ρ(T), and magnetoresistance (MR) are investigated in the Cu2Zn1−xCdxSnS4 single crystals for compositions x ≡ Cd/(Zn + Cd) = 0.15–0.24, in the temperature range of T ∼ 50–300 K in pulsed magnetic fields of B up to 20 T. The Mott variable-range hopping (VRH) conductivity is established within wide temperature intervals lying inside ΔTM ∼ 60–190 K for different x. The deviations from the VRH conduction, observable above and below ΔTM, are connected to the nearest-neighbor hopping regime and to the activation on the mobility threshold of the acceptor band (AB) with width W ≈ 16–46 meV. The joint analysis of ρ(T) and positive MR permitted determination of other important electronic parameters. These include the localization radius, α ≈ 19–30 Å, the density of the localized states, g(μ) ≈ (1.6–21) × 1017 meV−1 cm−3 at the Fermi level μ, and the acceptor concentration, NA ∼ (6–8) × 1019 cm−3, for various x and in conditions of different vicinity of the investigated samples to the metal–insulator transition. In addition, details of the AB structure, including positions of μ and of the mobility threshold, Ec, are found depending on the alloy composition.