Mosaic crystals leading a new route to achieve ultrahigh thermoelectric performance

Solid-state thermoelectric technology uses electrons or holes as the working fluid for heat pumping and power generation. Adopting the technology in harvesting solar heat, converting waste industrial heat into electricity, and pumping out operational heat has tremendous potential in solid-state electronics applications. A combination of highly efficient electronic transport and low heat conductivity is a prerequisite for excellent thermoelectric performance. As these two requirements are substantially orthogonal, their synchronous realization is difficult in practice, hindering the commercial use of thermoelectricity.