Electronic Properties of Ferric Chloride Intercalated Graphite Compounds

This dissertation reports electronic transport measurements on ferric chloride (FeCl_3) graphite intercalation compounds (GIC's). The c-axis conductivity is measured as a function of temperature from 1K to 293K in various stages of FeCl _3 acceptor GIC's and there are marked changes in the behavior of the conductivity as a function of stage. An attempt is made to explain these results on the basis of current theories of c-axis conduction in GIC's, notably the various hopping mechanisms assisted by phonons and impurities in parallel with band conduction. The in-plane resistivity of various stages of FeCl_3 GIC's at temperatures from 1K to 293K is measured and it is found that the absolute conductivity is enhanced from that of highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite and that the temperature behavior is metal-like and stage dependent. The hall effect and magnetoresistance of the samples are measured at low and high applied magnetic fields (up to 20T) and at various fixed point temperatures (1K, 4K, 77K, and 293K). Besides qualitative features obtained from these measurements such as the sign of the predominant carrier and the shape of the fermi surface, the Lorentz -Drude Single Carrier Model is used to obtain the carrier densities and mobilities as a function of stage. Shubnikov-deHaas (SdH) oscillations are observed in the samples at high field and at various temperatures from 1K to about 30K. The data are used to determine the effective carrier masses, relaxation times, and mobilities for some stages. DeHaas-VanAlphen oscillations are also observed in the AC susceptibility in independently measured samples. The frequencies observed are comparable to those observed in the SdH measurements but in the cases of both types of measurements, frequencies which are present in some samples are not found in others. The data is in good agreement with previous preliminary measurements by other investigators. ftn*All degree requirements completed in 1993, but degree will be granted in 1994.