The influence of intensive plastic deformation on thermopower low-temperature peak and resistivity of polycrystalline copper

The temperature dependence and the absolute value of the minimum of differential difference thermoelectric power (TEP) were investigated experimentally as a function of plastic deformation in polycrystalline copper samples with different contents of impurities: conditionally pure (99.99% Cu) and conditionally dirty (99.9% Cu). Simultaneously the relative electrical resistivity normalized to the value of residual resistance at 4.2 K was measured. The nonmonotonic character of the deformation dependences of the resistivity and TEP minimum account for the evolution of the defect structure in specimens with increasing strain.