The key properties for the design of high-efficiency thermoelectric materials are a low thermal conductivity and a large Seebeck coefficient with moderate electrical conductivity. Recent developments in nanotechnology and nanoscience are leading to breakthroughs in the field of thermoelectrics. The goal is to create a situation where phonon pathways are disrupted due to nanostructures in “bulk” materials. Here we introduce promising materials: (Ga,In)2Te3 with unexpectedly low thermal conductivity, in which certain kinds of superlattice structures naturally form. Two-dimensional vacancy planes with approximately 3.5-nm intervals exist in Ga2Te3, scattering phonons efficiently and leading to a very low thermal conductivity.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
T. M. Tritt and M. A. Subramanian, Mater. Res. Soc. Bull. 31, 188 (2006).
G. J. Snyder, M. Christensen, E. Nishibori, T. Caillat, and B. Iversen, Nat. Mater. 3, 458 (2004). doi:10.1038/nmat1154
B. C. Sales and D. Mandrus, Science 272, 1325 (1996). doi:10.1126/science.272.5266.1325
K. Kurosaki, A. Kosuga, H. Muta, M. Uno, and S. Yamanaka, Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 061919 (2005). doi:10.1063/1.2009828
L. D. Hicks and M. S. Dresselhaus, Phys. Rev. B 47, 12727 (1993). doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.47.12727
L. D. Hicks, T. C. Harman, X. Sun, and M. S. Dresselhaus, Phys. Rev. B 53, R10493 (1996). doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.53.R10493
M. S. Dresselhaus, G. Chen, M. Y. Tang, R. G. Yang, H. Lee, D. Z. Wang, Z. F. Ren, J.-P. Fleurial, and P. Gogna, Adv. Mater. 19, 1043 (2007). doi:10.1002/adma.200600527
R. Venkatasubramanian, E. Siivola, T. Colpitts, and B. O’Quinn, Nature 413, 597 (2001). doi:10.1038/35098012
T. C. Harman, P. J. Taylor, M. P. Walsh, and B. E. LaForge, Science 297, 2229 (2002). doi:10.1126/science.1072886
K. F. Hsu, S. Loo, F. Guo, W. Chen, J. S. Dyck, C. Uher, T. Hogan, E. K. Polychroniadis, and M. G. Kanatzidis, Science 303, 818 (2004). doi:10.1126/science.1092963
R. R. Desai, D. Lakshminarayana, P. B. Patel, P. K. Patel, and C. J. Panchal, Mater. Chem. Phys. 94, 308 (2005). doi:10.1016/j.matchemphys.2005.05.003
M. Guymont, A. Tomas, and M. Guittard, Philos. Mag. A 66, 133 (1992). doi:10.1080/01418619208201518
K. Kurosaki, H. Matsumoto, A. Charoenphakdee, S. Yamanaka, M. Ishimaru, and Y. Hirotsu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 012101 (2008). doi:10.1063/1.2940591
N. Teraguchi, F. Kato, M. Konagai, K. Takahashi, Y. Nakamura, and N. Otsuka, Appl. Phys. Lett. 59, 567 (1991). doi:10.1063/1.105388
A. I. Zaslavskii and V. M. Sergeeva, Soviet Phys. Solid State 2, 2556 (1961).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yamanaka, S., Ishimaru, M., Charoenphakdee, A. et al. Thermoelectric Characterization of (Ga,In)2Te3 with Self-Assembled Two-Dimensional Vacancy Planes. J. Electron. Mater. 38, 1392–1396 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-008-0654-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-008-0654-6