Electrical Conductivities of Liquid Mn and Mn–Te Alloys

Abstract

The electrical conductivities of liquid Mn and Mn_xTe_100−x alloys were measured by using a high purity alumina cell in the temperature range up to about 1400°C. Their concentration dependence of conductivities exhibited a sharp minimum at the stoichiometric composition MnTe. It suggests that liquid MnTe has the ionic configuration of Mn²⁺ and Te²⁻ at the composition MnTe. The conductivity of liquid MnTe was about 20.7 ohm⁻¹·cm⁻¹ at the melting point and the temperature dependence of conductivity was found to be exponential with an energy gap of 1.84 eV. For liquid Mn, the resistivity ρ was 199.5 μΩ·cm at the melting point and its temperature dependence dρ⁄dT was about 0.022 μΩ·cm/K near the melting point.