This work studies the effect of a transverse electric field on the resistance of bismuth thin films. The existence of an electric field effect in bismuth thin films on mica and polyimide has been experimentally confirmed. The study obtained experimental dependences of resistance on the transverse electric field strength for bismuth films of various thicknesses on mica and polyimide. It also revealed changes associated with a decrease in the thickness of the film and the material of the used substrate. A qualitative interpretation of the observed effect was given based on the analysis of changes in the mobility of free charge carriers in films depending on the direction of the electric field, as well as the thickness of the film and the substrate material.

Based on a thermodynamic ratio between the thermopower coefficient and entropy of the electrically conducting medium, we obtained an estimated value of the thermoelectric efficiency parameter ZT for an electronic system of fully ionised plasma. An example of such a system, which is in the most disordered state, is the electron-nuclear plasma of the Sun. The resulting universal value ZT = (25/6) can be considered as an assessment of the limiting capabilities of thermoelectric energy conversion.

The paper deals with thermoelectric phenomena from the standpoint of nonequilibrium thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The consideration is based on the fact that thermoelectric effects can occur if there is electrical and thermal contact of electrically conductive media. The necessary condition for the effect is the subsystems’ different ordering degree of charge and heat carriers or different entropy and heat capacity per each carrier particle. The presented approach gives the possibility to understand physics of thermoelectric phenomena deeply. Its development can help to establish the theoretical limits of the efficiency of thermoelectric energy conversion imposed by fundamental physical laws.

This paper presents a study of the magnetic susceptibility of solid solutions based on bismuth telluride and antimony in the temperature range from 2 to 400 K, performed on a superconducting quantum Josephson interference in magnetic fields up to 30 kOe. The relative error is less than 2%.

The influence of n-type impurity of tellurium (concentration range from 0.005 atomic % Te to 0.15 atomic % Te) on galvanic magnetic properties (resistivity, magnetic resistance and Hall constant) of Bi thin films with various thicknesses was studied. The properties were measured in temperature range from 77 to 300 K. It was established that the classical size effect in the films is significant and decreases with higher concentration of Te impurity. The analysis of experimental results was carried out in approximation of the law of Jones-Schoenberg dispersion for Bi films doped with tellurium. Calculation of concentration and mobility of charge carriers in the studied films was made.

This paper presents a study of the magnetic susceptibility of solid solutions based on bismuth telluride and antimony in the temperature range from 5 to 400 K, performed on a superconducting Josephson quantum interference in magnetic fields up to 30 kOe. The relative er ror is less than 2%.

We publish the results of the studying the galvanomagnetic and thermoelectric properties of monocrystalline bismuth films, produced by the method of floating-zone refining under cover on mica base (substrate). The regularities of occurrence of the classic size effect in monocrystalline films are developed. The contribution of the surface on limiting electrons and holes mobilities in the studied bismuth films is determined.

The results of studies of the impact of the modes of production on the structure of bismuth films produced by the method of thermal spraying on mica substrate are presented. New methods of investigating structure and structure defects of films, based on prior chemical etching of the films' surfaces or the technique of decoration of the defects by means of natural oxidation with the following atomic-force microscoping are developed. The obtained results are used for optimization of conditions of producing films with the structure close to regular crystal.

The authors of the article investigate crystallization processes and the regimes of anisotropic bismuth semimetal films creation using the method of thermal evaporation in vacuum under the surface structure control with the help of atompower microscopy methods. The correlation of transport coefficients in films gives the authors the possibility to determine the impacts of interaction of current carriers in films with crystallites surface and boundaries into current carriers activity limitation.

The structure of semimetals thin films and its effect on galvanomagnetic and thermoelectric phenomena in them are considered. The difference between the influence of the size effect on the film thickness and imperfection of its crystalline structure is shown. It is also displayed that the scattering on interblock borders has a dimensional character which is similar to the film thickness effect. It is experimentally found out that the variety of the results received after researching differential kinetic phenomena such as thermoelectromotive, Halls effect, etc., is caused by a strong anisotropy of charge parameters in bismuth. Calculations of the charge carriers mobility in the film of bismuth were carried out depending on the film thickness and its crystalline structure perfection. A significant influence of the temperature indexes of a film and substrate material expansion on the kinetic phenomena in semimetal films is revealed.