THERMOELECTRIC POWER IN (Gd, Sm)_1.85Ce_0.15CuO₄ SYSTEM

Thermoelectric power measurements are reported for seven samples with different x in the Gd_1.85-xSm_xCe_0.15CuO₄ system at temperatures ranging from 80K to 300K. For Sm-rich superconducting samples, thermoelectric power S has a small negative value and is almost temperature independent. As the content of Sm decreases, the absolute value of S increases and a broad valley appears in the S(T) curve. The results which can be interpreted in terms of a two-channel model support the existence of mid-gap states with Fermi level close to the minimum of the density of states as well as the coexistence of electron and hole carriers. It is suggested that a linear temperature dependence of S with a small negative slope is close to the intrinsic behavior in the a-b plane of normal states for superconducting samples.