Thermoelectric Inhomogeneities in (Ag1–ySbTe2)x(PbTe)1–x

A document presents a study of why materials of composition (Ag1–ySbTe2)0.05 (PbTe)0.95 [0=y=1] were previously reported to have values of the thermoelectric figure of merit [ZT (where Z = a2/??, a is the Seebeck coefficient, ? is electrical resistivity, ? is thermal conductivity, and T is absolute temperature)] ranging from <1 to >2. In the study, samples of (AgSbTe2)0.05(PbTe)0.95, (Ag0.67SbTe2)0.05 (PbTe)0.95, and (Ag0.55SbTe2)0.05(PbTe)0.95 were prepared by melting followed, variously, by slow or rapid cooling. Analyses of these samples by x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and scanning microprobe measurements of the Seebeck coefficient led to the conclusion that these materials have a multiphase character on a scale of the order of millimeters, even though they appear homogeneous in x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The Seebeck measurements showed significant variations, including both n-type and p-type behavior in the same sample. These variations were found to be consistent with observed variations of ZT. The rapidly quenched samples were found to be less inhomogeneous than were the furnace-cooled ones; hence, rapid quenching was suggested as a basis of research on synthesizing more nearly uniform high-ZT samples.

This work was done by G. Jeffrey Snyder, Nancy Chen, Franck Gascoin, Eckhard Mueller, Gabriele Karpinski, and Christian Stiewe of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For further information, access the Technical Support Package (TSP) free online at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Materials category. NPO-42657

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