SELF-TUNING OF CARRIER CONCENTRATION FOR HIGH THERMOELECTRIC PERFORMANCE

摘要

The inventors demonstrate herein that homogeneous Ag-doped PbTe/Ag2Te composites exhibit high thermoelectric performance (˜50% over La-doped composites) associated with an inherent temperature induced gradient in the doping concentration caused by the temperature-dependent solubility of Ag in the PbTe matrix. This method provides a new mechanism to achieve a higher thermoelectric efficiency afforded by a given material system, and is generally applicable to other thermoelectric materials.