The effect of quenching from different temperatures on Bi0.88Sb0.12 alloy

• The effect of treatment temperature on melt quenched Bi0.88Sb0.12 is reported.
• Sb segregation in Bi-Sb matrix occurs in the samples heated at higher temperatures.
• DTA and EDX measurement revealed that Sb precipitation increases with temperature.
• Sb precipitation affects structural, resistive, magnetic properties of Bi-Sb alloy.
• Impurity levels arising due to segregated Sb influences band diagram of Bi-Sb alloy.

Structural, thermal, resistive and magnetic properties of melt quenched Bi0.88Sb0.12 alloys are reported. The samples are heated at three different temperatures, followed by rapid quenching in liquid nitrogen. Large temperature difference between liquidus and solidus lines, led to microscopic in-homogeneity in the alloy. The effect of quenching from different temperatures in polycrystalline Bi0.88Sb0.12 alloy has been studied. The parameters such as strain, unit cell volume, and resistivity are found to increase with temperature. Thermal variation of resistivity depicts non-monotonic temperature dependence. The total negative susceptibility increases and band gap of semiconducting Bi0.88Sb0.12 samples decreases with increasing temperature.