The Charge Distribution, Seebeck Coefficient, and Carrier Concentration of CuCr(0.99)Ln(0.01)S(2) (Ln = Dy–Lu)

The atom oxidation states were determined using the binding energies of the core S2p-, Cu2p-, Cr2p-, and Ln3d-levels in CuCr(0.99)Ln(0.01)S(2) (Ln = Dy–Lu) solid solutions. The charge distribution on the matrix elements (Cu, Cr, and S) remained unaffected after cationic substitution. The sulfur atoms were found to be in the S(2−) oxidation state, the copper–Cu(+), and the chromium–Cr(3+). The cationic substitution of the initial CuCrS(2)-matrix occurred via the isovalent mechanism. The obtained results were compared with the electrophysical properties for CuCr(0.99)Ln(0.01)S(2). The measured carrier concentration was from 10(17) to 10(18) cm(−3). The largest Seebeck coefficient value of 157 µV/K was measured for CuCr(0.99)Yb(0.01)S(2) at 500 K. The cationic substitution with lanthanides allowed one to enhance the Seebeck coefficient of the initial CuCrS(2)-matrix.