Effects of Irradiation with Protons on the Electrical Properties of Bi2Te3

Single crystals of p-type Bi2Te3 were irradiated near room temperature with 7.5-MeV protons. The Hall coefficient increased while the Hall mobility and the magnetoresistance coefficient decreased with increasing radiation dose; irradiation with 1.2×1016 protons per cm2 changed the compound from p type to n type. Agreement between the experimental and calculated values of the resistivity was obtained if the resistivity was assumed to be due predominantly to ionized imperfection scattering and lattice scattering. The number of defects introduced by the irradiation calculated from the experimental data was more than an order of magnitude smaller than the numbers calculated from theories of radiation damage.