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The Thermoelectric Figure of Merit in the Mixed Crystal System p‐(Bi 1− x Sb x ) 2 Te 3
Author(s) -
Stordeur M.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.2221610237
Subject(s) - figure of merit , thermoelectric effect , seebeck coefficient , condensed matter physics , electronic band structure , scattering , materials science , thermal conductivity , crystal structure , charge carrier , valence (chemistry) , chemistry , crystallography , physics , optics , thermodynamics , optoelectronics , composite material , organic chemistry
The figure of merit Z is a measure for the effectiveness of the thermoelectric material p‐(Bi 1− x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 and depends on the valence band structure, the charge carrier scattering, the lattice thermal conductivity, and the free carrier density. It is shown that crystals with the composition x = 0.75 are favoured by the band structure to have the highest figure of merit in this mixed crystal series. In the frame of a consistent model for the electronic structure the theory—experiment comparison gives good quantitative agreement for the Z ( S )‐plot in terms of effective masses and lattice thermal conductivity over a wide range of the Seebeck coefficient S .