Effect of scandium doping and of matrix composition variation on galvanomagnetic properties and electronic structure of Pb1-x-ySnxScyTe alloys

[Display omitted] •Solubility of Sc impurity in Pb1-xSnxTe is abnormally high, exceeding 3 mol %.•Free charge carrier concentration and Fermi energy on Sc and Sn content.•Pinning of Fermi level by the Sc resonant level located in the conduction band.•Diagram for the electronic structure rearrangement with increasing tin content.•Compositional coefficient of the movement of the scandium impurity level. We synthesize a single-crystal Pb1-x-ySnxScyTe (x = 0.08, y = 0.02) ingot and investigate the composition and the galvanomagnetic properties of samples cut from it. We find that all samples are single-phase and determine the distribution of tin and scandium along the ingot. As the concentration of scandium increases, we find the p-n-inversion of the conductivity type at the liquid-helium temperature, an increase in the electron concentration, and its saturation at n ≈ 1.0 × 1020 cm−3, indicating the pinning of the Fermi level by the scandium resonant level located well above the bottom of the conduction band. Using the six-band Dimmock dispersion relation, dependences of the Fermi energy on the scandium and tin content are calculated. A diagram of the electronic structure rearrangement of Pb1-x-ySnxScyTe upon increasing tin content is proposed; the energy and the compositional coefficient of the scandium level movement with respect to the band edges are estimated.