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. 2014 Jun 26:4:5450.
doi: 10.1038/srep05450.

Abnormal drop in electrical resistivity with impurity doping of single-crystal Ag

Ji Young Kim  1 , Min-Wook Oh  2 , Seunghun Lee  3 , Yong Chan Cho  4 , Jang-Hee Yoon  5 , Geun Woo Lee  6 , Chae-Ryong Cho  7 , Chul Hong Park  8 , Se-Young Jeong  9
Affiliations

Abnormal drop in electrical resistivity with impurity doping of single-crystal Ag

Ji Young Kim et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Resistivity is an intrinsic feature that specifies the electrical properties of a material and depends on electron-phonon scattering near room temperature. Reducing the resistivity of a metal to its potentially lowest value requires eliminating grain boundaries and impurities, but to date few studies have focused on reducing the intrinsic resistivity of a pure metal itself. We could reduce the intrinsic resistivity of single-crystal Ag, which has an almost perfect structure, by impurity doping it with Cu. This paper presents our results: resistivity was reduced to 1.35 μΩ · cm at room temperature after 3 mol% Cu-doping of single-crystal Ag. Various mechanisms were examined in an attempt to explain the abnormal behavior.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Grown Ag-Cu mixed crystal and its fabrication.
(a): Photograph of the 5% Cu-doped Ag mixed crystal, grown using the Czochralski method. (b) and (c): 2.5D and 2D pole-figure images obtained from the metal mixed crystal. (d) and (e): Sample-cutting image using a wire electrical discharge machine (EDM). Inset to (e): Sample for electrical resistivity measurements using the four-point probe method. All photographs were taken by S.Y.J. and the co-authors.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Electrical resistivity of crystals.
(a): Electrical resistivities of pure single-crystal Ag, Ag-Cu mixed crystals, and polycrystalline Ag0.97Cu0.03 alloy, measured at 300 K, and polycrystalline Cu, single-crystal Cu, and polycrystalline Ag, measured at 293 K. (b): Temperature dependences of electrical resistivity of the polycrystalline Ag0.97Cu0.03 alloy, single-crystal Ag, and Ag0.97Cu0.03 mixed crystal.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Calculated electrical resistivity of Ag, Cu, Cu-Cu dimerized, and Cu-Cu separated systems.
Electronic structures of the supercell were used to evaluate the properties. All values were obtained with the Boltzmann transport equation with a constant value of relaxation time of 3.4 × 10−14 s, chosen to fit the experimental resistivity of Ag.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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