Sb concentration dependent structural and resistive properties of polycrystalline Bi-Sb alloys

Polycrystalline Bi1-xSbx alloys have been synthesized over a wide range of antimony concentration (0.08 <= x <= 0.20) by solid state reaction method. In depth structural analysis using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature dependent resistivity (rho) measurement of synthesized samples have been performed. XRD data confirmed single phase nature of polycrystalline samples and revealed that complete solid solution is formed between bismuth and antimony. Rietveld refinement technique, utilizing MAUD software, has been used to perform detailed structural analysis of the samples and lattice parameters of polycrystalline Bi1-xSbx alloys have been estimated. Lattice parameter and unit cell volume decreases monotonically with increasing antimony content. The variation of lattice parameters with antimony concentration depicts a distinct slope change at x = 0.12. Band gap (E-g) has been estimated from the thermal variation of resistivity data, with the 12% Sb content sample showing maximum E-g. It has been observed that with increasing antimony concentration the transition from direct to indirect gap semiconductor is intimately related to the variation of the estimated lattice parameters. Band diagram for the polycrystalline Bi1-xSbx alloy system has also been proposed. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4759137]