Conductivity anisotropy and localization of charge carriers in CuFeTe₂ single crystals with a layered structure

Abstract

The temperature dependences of the electrical resistivity of CuFeTe₂ semiconductor single crystals with a layered structure are investigated parallel and perpendicular to the plane of the crystal layers in the temperature range 5–300 K. It is demonstrated that, in both cases, the temperature dependences of the electrical resistivity in the temperature range studied are characterized by two portions associated with different mechanisms of electrical conduction. In the high-temperature range, the electrical conduction is predominantly provided by thermally excited impurity charge carriers in the allowed energy band. In the low-temperature range, the electrical conduction occurs through charge carrier hopping between localized states lying in a narrow energy band near the Fermi level. The activation energy for impurity charge carriers is determined. The density of localized states near the Fermi level, the spread in energies of these states, and the average carrier-hopping distances are estimated for different temperatures