DataVXAdvanced MaterialsPaper
journal article·2021-01

Compositional Fluctuations Locked by Athermal Transformation Yielding High Thermoelectric Performance in GeTe

Yi‐Fen Tsai, Pai‐Chun Wei, Liuwen Chang, Kuang‐Kuo Wang, Chun‐Chuen Yang, Yen‐Chung Lai, Cheng‐Rong Hsing, Ching‐Ming Wei, Jian He, G. Jeffrey Snyder, Hsin‐Jay Wu

Advanced Materials· Volume 33· Issue 1
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Source abstract

Abstract

Abstract Phase transition in thermoelectric (TE) material is a double‐edged sword—it is undesired for device operation in applications, but the fluctuations near an electronic instability are favorable. Here, Sb doping is used to elicit a spontaneous composition fluctuation showing uphill diffusion in GeTe that is otherwise suspended by diffusionless athermal cubic‐to‐rhombohedral phase transition at around 700 K. The interplay between these two phase transitions yields exquisite composition fluctuations and a coexistence of cubic and rhombohedral phases in favor of exceptional figures‐of‐merit zT. Specifically, alloying GeTe by Sb2Te3 significantly suppresses the thermal conductivity while retaining eligible carrier concentration over a wide composition range, resulting in high zT values of >2.6. These results not only attest to the efficacy of using phase transition in manipulating the microstructures of GeTe‐based materials but also open up a new thermodynamic route to develop higher performance TE materials in general.
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Research context

Metals & alloys

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices · Phase-change materials and chalcogenides · Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Materials and Optoelectronic science National Sun Yat‐sen University Kaohsiung 80424 Taiwan

Department of Materials Science and Engineering National Chiao Tung University Hsinchu 30010 Taiwan

Computer, Electrical, and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Thuwal 23955‐6900 Saudi Arabia

Center for Condensed Matter Sciences and Center of Atomic Initiative for New Materials National Taiwan University Taipei 10617 Taiwan

Department of Physics Chung Yuan Christian University Chung‐Li Jhongli 32023 Taiwan

National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center Hsinchu 30076 Taiwan

Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences Academia Sinica Taipei 10617 Taiwan

Department of Physics and Astronomy Clemson Nanomaterials Institute Clemson University Clemson 29634‐0978 USA

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Northwestern University Evanston IL 60208 USA

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