The electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power of lithium ferrite in the vicinity of the order-disorder transition temperature

Abstract The electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power of single crystals of lithium ferrite have been measured in the temperature range 300 to 1100 K. Discontinuous decreases in the conductivity and in the thermopower have been observed at the order-disorder temperature (1000 K). These features of the results are explained in terms of an increase in the width of the energy distribution or ‘Anderson band’ of localized states and a concomitant increase in the magnitude of the polaron binding energy.