Phase-transition temperature suppression to achieve cubic GeTe and high thermoelectric performance by Bi and Mn codoping

Journal Article · 06 May 2018 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1802020115 · OSTI ID:1438289

Liu, Zihang ^[1]; Sun, Jifeng ^[2]; Mao, Jun ^[3]; Zhu, Hangtian ^[3]; Ren, Wuyang ^[4]; Zhou, Jingchao ^[1]; Wang, Zhiming ^[5]; Singh, David J. ^[2]; Sui, Jiehe ^[6]; Chu, Ching-Wu ^[3]; Ren, Zhifeng ^[3]

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1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150001 Harbin, China,, Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5005,, Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5002,
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211,
3. Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5005,, Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5002,
4. Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5005,, Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5002,, Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 610054 Chengdu, China
5. Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 610054 Chengdu, China
6. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150001 Harbin, China,

Significance Phase-transition behavior in thermoelectric materials is detrimental for their application in thermoelectric devices. Here we designed, and experimentally realized the high thermoelectric performance of cubic GeTe-based material by suppressing the phase transition from a cubic to a rhombohedral structure to below room temperature through a simple Bi and Mn codoping on the Ge site. Bi doping reduced the hole concentration while Mn alloying largely suppressed the phase-transition temperature and also induced modification of the valence bands. Our work provides the basis for studying phase transitions in other thermoelectric materials to optimize these materials for applications.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Houston, Houston, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0010831
• OSTI ID: 1438289
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 21 Vol. 115; ISSN 0027-8424
• Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English