Effects of Transition Metal Solutes on the Thermoelectric Power of Copper and Gold

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The thermoelectric powers (TEP) of copper alloys containing dilute amounts of iron, cobalt, or chromium and up to 10 at. % manganese or nickel have been measured between 4.2° and 1000°K. Similar alloys of gold have been measured between 4.2° and 100°K. The individual solutes produce comparable effects in either solvent. In copper, 0.1% iron produces a minimum TEP of −14 μV/°K near 20°K. A similar level of cobalt produces a TEP of −10 μV/°K near 200°K. All of the solutes measured exhibited minima in the TEP vs temperature data, but nickel, manganese, and chromium are much less effective than cobalt or iron in altering the TEP of copper. The thermopower does not increase indefinitely with concentration. In gold, iron produces its maximum TEP at about 0.2 at. % concentration, cobalt at about 2%. Several of the alloys measured also exhibited maxima in the 4.2°K region, similar to results obtained by others with nontransition solutes. Resistivity counterparts for these TEP-temperature curves have been published earlier.