Title :
Electrical activity of metal vacancies in Pb1-xSnx Te<Te> solid solutions and thermoelectric properties of compositions for p-type leg of middle-temperature range thermogenerator
Author :
Fedorov, M.I. ; Vedernikov, M.V. ; Gurieva, E.A. ; Prokof´eva, L.V. ; Ravich, Yu.I.
Author_Institution :
A.F. Ioffe Physicotech. Inst., Acad. of Sci., St. Petersburg, Russia
Abstract :
The maximum densities of holes generated by cation vacancies, as well as thermoelectric parameters of (Pb1-xSnx) 1-yTey solid solutions with tin content x in the range from 0.4 to 0.6, were studied. It is shown that each vacancy produces four holes in the valence band and that only for small x can the concept of a doubly charged vacancy be used. The maximum figure of merit Z is (1.0-1.1) × 10-3 K-1 at T = 800-850 K. The relatively high value of Z achieved without doping is due to the high electrical conductivity provided, first, by the small effective mass of holes and, second, by the high electrical activity of the vacancies
Keywords :
IV-VI semiconductors; defect states; effective mass; electrical conductivity; hole density; lead compounds; solid solutions; thermoelectric devices; thermoelectricity; tin compounds; vacancies (crystal); valence bands; 800 to 850 K; Pb1-xSnxTe; Sn content dependence; composition dependence; doubly charged vacancy; electrical conductivity; figure of merit; hole density; hole effective mass; metal vacancy electrical activity; p-type thermogenerator leg; solid solutions; thermoelectric properties; valence band; Annealing; Doping; Inorganic materials; Leg; Solids; Tellurium; Temperature distribution; Thermoelectric devices; Thermoelectricity; Tin;
Conference_Titel :
Thermoelectrics, 2001. Proceedings ICT 2001. XX International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Beijing
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7205-0
DOI :
10.1109/ICT.2001.979842
