Hall effect and anisotropic relaxation times in α-phase AgCd, AgIn, AgSn, and AgSb alloys

Abstract
The Hall resistivities of polycrystalline samples of the series Ag(Cd → Sb) have been measured in the temperature range 4.2–80 °K, and in the field range 2–15.17 kG. The solute concentration ranges between 273 and 6715 atomic p.p.m. Special consideration was given to the establishment of the low-field condition, for which the negative Hall coefficients of the Ag(Cd → Sb) series at 4.2 °K are found to be 9.49, 9.59, 9.67, and 9.77 × 10−11 m3 A−1 s−1 respectively, with an accuracy of ± 0.04 in these units. Using the model of Dugdale and Firth, the corresponding values of the ratio τNB are 0.64, 0.57, 0.52, and 0.47 respectively. It is shown that there is qualitative agreement between the dependence of τNB upon solute valence and that expected from the known electronic structure of the solutes. The paper also includes results for the field dependence of the transverse magnetoresistance shown by the samples at 4.2 °K, which have been used to establish the low-field condition.