Unusual behavior in cadmium sulfide

In his recent measurements of the electrical conductivity of plastically deformed cadmium sulfide, Charles Elbaum of Brown University has found a large anistropy and unusual temperature dependence over a range from 20 to 300 K. The conductivity in the direction of the longest (z) axis of his specimens is from ${10}^6$ to ${10}^8\hspace{0.17em}\mathrm{times}$ that along the other two mutually perpendicular directions. As a function of temperature the conductivity along the z axis first rises to a maximum of about $\text{4.5\hspace{0.17em}(Ω\hspace{0.17em}}\mathrm{cm}{)}^{\text{−1}}$ near 125 K, then decreases exponentially. By contrast, the conductivities at right angles decrease monotonically from values of about ${10}^{\text{−6}}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}(\Omega \hspace{0.17em}}\mathrm{cm}{)}^{\text{−1}}$ at 300 K to values of about ${10}^{\text{−8}}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}(\Omega \hspace{0.17em}}\mathrm{cm}{)}^{\text{−1}}$ at 125 K. Elbaum feels that the experimental results imply a metallic‐type conduction along a pseudo‐one‐dimensional system consisting of arrays of dislocations.

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