Kamila H, Sankhla A, Yasseri M, Mueller E, de Boor J. Non-Rigid Band Structure in Mg
2Ge for Improved Thermoelectric Performance.
Adv Sci (Weinh) 2020;
7:2000070. [PMID:
32596116 PMCID:
PMC7312433 DOI:
10.1002/advs.202000070]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Magnesium silicide and its solid solutions are among the most attractive materials for thermoelectric generators in the temperature range of 500-800 K. However, while n-type Mg2(Si,Ge,Sn) materials show excellent thermoelectric performance, the corresponding p-type solid solutions are still inferior, mainly due to less favorable properties of the valence bands compared to the conduction bands. Here, Li doped Mg2Ge with a thermoelectric figure of merit zT of 0.5 at 700 K is reported, which is four times higher than that of p-type Mg2Si and double than that of p-type Mg2Sn. The reason for the excellent properties is an unusual temperature dependence of Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity compared to a standard highly doped semiconductor. The properties cannot be captured assuming a rigid band structure but well reproduced assuming two parabolic valence bands with a strong temperature dependent interband separation. According to the analysis, the difference in energy between the two bands decrease with temperature, leading to a band convergence at around 650 K and finally to an inversion of the band positions. The finding of a combination of a light and a heavy band that are non-rigid with temperature can pave the way for further optimization of p-type Mg2(Si,Ge,Sn).
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