Features of the conductivity of the quasi-one-dimensional compound TiS3

The structure and transport properties of single crystal whiskers of the TiS3 quasi-one-dimensional semiconductor have been investigated. The anisotropy of the conductivity in the plane of layers (ab) has been measured as a function of the temperature. The anisotropy at 300 K is 5 and increases with a decrease in the temperature. Features on the temperature dependences of the conductivity along and across the chains are observed at 59 and 17 K. Near the same temperatures the form of the current-voltage characteristics measured along the chains is qualitatively changed. The current-voltage characteristics below 60 K exhibit nonlinearity and have a threshold form below 10 K. The results indicate possible phase transitions and the collective conduction mechanism at low temperatures.