Investigation of the dielectric permittivity and electrical conductivity of Ce$_{2}$S$_{3}$

The rare-earth semiconductor $\beta$-Ce$_{2}$S$_{3}$ compound samples were synthesized and their dielectric permittivity and electrical conductivity were measured in the temperature range 90–400 K. The energy-band structure has been determined. It is shown that the long-known large electrical parameter spread of semiconductor compounds close in composition to Ce$_{2}$S$_{3}$ is explained by the structure of impurity donor levels formed by cerium atoms and ions with different ionization degrees.