METAL-SEMICONDUCTOR TRANSITION IN BULK AMORPHOUS ZN-SB ALLOY UNDER HIGH-PRESSURE

Phase transformations in the bulk amorphous Zn-Sb alloy were studied b y resistometry under high pressure. The electrical resistance of the a morphous sample decreased with pressure by approximately 5 orders of m agnitude displaying two falls at 20.4 and 48.5 kbar characteristic of first-order phase transitions. The former transition was shown to be o f a semiconductor-semiconductor type while after the later one the sam ple displays the type of conductivity characteristic for amorphous met als. The former transition has been found to be reversible and accompa nied with 0.8% decrease in volume.