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The Effect of A Graded in Profile on the Figure of Merit of PbTe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Z. Dashevsky ,
S. Shusterman ,
A. Horowitz  and
M. P. Dariel
Z. Dashevsky
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel., zdashev@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
S. Shusterman
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel., zdashev@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
A. Horowitz
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel., zdashev@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
M. P. Dariel
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel., zdashev@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
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Abstract

The present study was aimed at demonstrating the possibility of producing a graded charge carrier concentration in a PbTe crystal by taking advantage of the concentration profile that is set up by the diffusion of In from an external source. Doping by indium generates deep impurity levels lying close to the edge of the conduction band. The Fermi level pinning effect and the electron population of the In impurity levels, which reduces the minority carrier concentration at elevated temperature, significantly improve the thermoelectric behavior of the resulting material. The penetration profiles of In, originating from an external gaseous or liquid source, were determined using Seebeck coefficient measurements in p- and n-type PbTe crystals. In the p-type crystal, the Seebeck coefficient changed sign as the In concentration induced a change from p-type to n-type character. The thermovoltage of a PbTe crystal in which an In concentration profile, generated by In diffiusing from a gaseous source had been established, was determined in the 50 to 430 °C temperature range. The constant Seebeck coefficient that was observed over the whole temperature range provides the experimental support for the underlying premises of this study.

Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 545: Symposium Z – Thermoelectric Materials 1998 - The Next Generation… , 1998 , 513
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1999

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