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Effects of varying indium composition on the thermoelectric properties of In x Ga1−x Sb ternary alloys

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Abstract

In x Ga1−x Sb (x = 0–1), a III–V ternary alloy, was grown by melt solidification process. The effects of varying indium composition on the thermoelectric properties of In x Ga1−x Sb polycrystals were studied for the first time. The segregations of indium and gallium elements were observed in the grown crystals, and the defects present in crystals were revealed by etching process. Room-temperature Raman measurement revealed that the dominant optical modes of phonon vibrations in InSb and GaSb binaries were suppressed in In x Ga1−x Sb ternaries. The in-phase vibrations of acoustic mode phonons were scattered more effectively in In x Ga1−x Sb by the present defects, and the relative value of lattice thermal conductivity was reduced. Thus, the thermal conductivity of InSb and GaSb binaries was drastically reduced in In x Ga1−x Sb by alloy scattering. InSb indicated the highest ZT 0.51 because of its higher power factor 70 µW/cmK2. Next to InSb, In0.8Ga0.2Sb had higher ZT value of 0.29 at 600 K among the In x Ga1−x Sb ternaries. The ZT of In0.8Ga0.2Sb was increased about 30 times than that of GaSb by the increase of power factor as well as the decrease of thermal conductivity.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (Nos. 25289270, 25289087) and the cooperative research projects of the Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University. The authors thanks Centre for Instrumental Analysis, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan, for the characterization facilities and Mr. Hiroshi Okazaki for the thermoelectric measurements. One of the authors Mr. V. Nirmal Kumar thanks Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan, for providing Monbukagakusho research fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan

    V. Nirmal Kumar & Y. Hayakawa

  2. Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 432-8011, Japan

    V. Nirmal Kumar, T. Koyoma & Y. Hayakawa

  3. Centre for Nanoscience and Technology, Anna University, Chennai, India

    M. Arivanandan

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Ibaraki University, Hitachi, Japan

    H. Udono

  5. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Japan

    Y. Inatomi

  6. School of Physical Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Sagamihara, Japan

    Y. Inatomi

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  1. V. Nirmal Kumar
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Correspondence to Y. Hayakawa.

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Nirmal Kumar, V., Arivanandan, M., Koyoma, T. et al. Effects of varying indium composition on the thermoelectric properties of In x Ga1−x Sb ternary alloys. Appl. Phys. A 122, 885 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-016-0409-9

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