Account of Thermal Flow Through Metal-Semimetal BiSb Contact Boundary for Determination of EHF Detector Volt-Watt Sensitivity

Abstract

Bismuth, antimony and its alloys are the typical representatives of a class of semimetals, which electric conductance is lower in 10²-10³ times, than of usual well conducting an electrical current metals. The alloys bismuth with antimony have semi-conductor properties in wide area of compositions at temperatures below 77 °K. The semimetals are rather perspective materials from the point of view of their probable application in various devices [1,2,3].In present time the semimetal alloys BiSb have wide application in thermoelectric generators and refrigerators. In work [3] the opportunity of use of semimetals BiSb with percentage content of Bi and Sb from 8 % up to 25 % was shown as high-sensitivity and of small inertion indicators of the mm range radiation where thermoelectric effect is used. The principle of action of such indicators is based on occurrence of temperature gradient in a semimetal crystal BiSb that has two contacts of the various area with flowing electrical current. Basic element of such device is the dot contact metal - semimetal. One of the main characteristics is volt-watt sensitivity of metal-semimetal BiSb contact which calculating is shown in present work.