THERMOELECTRIC MATERIAL AND ITS MANUFACTURING METHOD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a thermoelectric material suppressed in deterioration in thermoelectric characteristic caused by a mixture of an impurity material, and to provide a thermolecetric material which can be obtained using this method. SOLUTION: The thermoelectric material includes a half-Heusler compound comprising the following constitution. (1) The half-Heusler compound has an AgAsMg type crystal structure. (2) The valence electron number of the half-Heusler compound per atom is 6. (3) The half-Heusler compound includes two or more types of atoms different in valence electron number in at least two sites out of three sites of the AgAsMg type crystal structure. (4) The O-concentration [O] and the Si-concentration [Si] in the half-Heusler compound satisfy an equation (a): 2.5≤3.305-5.10[O]-0.540[Si]. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT