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Impurity Band Effects in Thermoelectric Materials

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Abstract

The possibility of improvement of the power factor through introduction of impurity bands is considered. The contributions to the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity from carriers in an impurity band are expressed in terms of the Fermi energy and the position of the impurity levels relative to the edge of the main band. Surprisingly, it is found that the presence of an impurity band generally brings little benefit, and in fact, when it lies near the edge of the main band, the power factor may be significantly reduced. Our findings are consistent with the observation that the figure of merit of PbTe is improved by the presence of deep-lying thallium states. They also indicate that, for Bi2Te3, compensation for nonstoichiometry by counterdoping may not yield the highest power factor.

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  1. School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    H. J. Goldsmid

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  1. H. J. Goldsmid
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Correspondence to H. J. Goldsmid.

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Goldsmid, H.J. Impurity Band Effects in Thermoelectric Materials. J. Electron. Mater. 41, 2126–2129 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-012-2108-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-012-2108-4

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