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Thermoelectric properties of dilute PbTe-GeTe alloys

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Abstract

Stablen-type alloys significantly superior to PbTe over the temperature range 300° to 800°K have not yet been reported. While in many cases alloying of PbTe with other materials lowered its thermal conductivity, the degradation of the electrical properties more than offset this gain. A study will be described indicating that the figure-of-merit in an alloy system can reach a maximum at low alloy concentrations (<15 pct) rather than at high concentrations by maximizing the difference in atomic mass and lattice parameter of the two alloying materials. This concept led to the selection of the PbTe-GeTe system for investigation. Experimental results in this system will be compared to theoretical predictions and evaluated. Results will be discussed of optimization of both alloy composition and doping, and of the preparation ofn-type alloys with a figure-of-merit roughly 40 pct greater than PbTe in the range 300° to 800°K. The solubility ofp-type dopants were found to decrease on alloying such that carrier concentrations required for high temperature operation could not be achieved.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RCA Laboratories, Princeton, N.J.

    Irwin Kudman (Member of the Technical Staff)

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  1. Irwin Kudman
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Kudman, I. Thermoelectric properties of dilute PbTe-GeTe alloys. Metall Trans 2, 163–168 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02662652

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02662652

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