Abstract
EXPERIMENTS with Mr. A. K. Das-Gupta have shown that when carborundum, zincite or silicon crystal is placed between two mercury electrodes giving a large contact area, there is considerable rectification. Similar experiments with symmetrical crystals like iron pyrites, galena, etc., have shown no rectification. These experiments strongly suggest asymmetric conductance in crystals having no centres of symmetry. Accordingly, crystal detectors can be classified thus: (1) crystals having centres of symmetry, and (2) crystals having no such symmetry. In the symmetrical crystals, we observe rectification associated with point contacts. In the second group, in addition to this point-rectification, there is volume rectification, due to asymmetric conductance. The object of the present note is to suggest a theory of rectification in the symmetrical crystals.
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KHASTGIR, S. Surface-force Theory of Crystal Rectification. Nature 135, 148 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135148a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135148a0
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