Large thermoelectric power factor from crystal symmetry-protected non-bonding orbital in half-Heuslers

Zhou, Jiawei; Zhu, Hangtian; Liu, Te -Huan; Song, Qichen; He, Ran; Mao, Jun; Liu, Zihang; Ren, Wuyang; Liao, Bolin; Singh, David J.; Ren, Zhifeng; Chen, Gang

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03866-w

Title: Large thermoelectric power factor from crystal symmetry-protected non-bonding orbital in half-Heuslers

Journal Article · Mon Apr 30 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03866-w· OSTI ID:1526317

^[1]; Zhu, Hangtian ^[2]; Liu, Te -Huan ^[1];

^[1]; He, Ran ^[3];

^[4]; Liu, Zihang ^[2]; Ren, Wuyang ^[2]; Liao, Bolin ^[5]; Singh, David J. ^[6]; Ren, Zhifeng ^[2];

^[1]

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Univ. of Houston, Houston, TX (United States). Dept. of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity
Institut für Metallische Werkstoffe, Dresden (Germany). IFW Dresden
Univ. of Houston, Houston, TX (United States). Dept. of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity and Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

Modern society relies on high charge mobility for efficient energy production and fast information technologies. The power factor of a material—the combination of electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient—measures its ability to extract electrical power from temperature differences. Recent advancements in thermoelectric materials have achieved enhanced Seebeck coefficient by manipulating the electronic band structure. However, this approach generally applies at relatively low conductivities, preventing the realization of exceptionally high-power factors. In contrast, half-Heusler semiconductors have been shown to break through that barrier in a way that could not be explained. Here, we show that symmetry-protected orbital interactions can steer electron–acoustic phonon interactions towards high mobility. This high-mobility regime enables large power factors in half-Heuslers, well above the maximum measured values. We anticipate that our understanding will spark new routes to search for better thermoelectric materials, and to discover high electron mobility semiconductors for electronic and photonic applications.

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Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577

OSTI ID:: 1526317

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 9, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 109 works

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