Anomalous electronic transport in dual-nanostructured lead telluride

The Pb- and Sb- dual nanostructured PbTe system exhibits anomalous electronic transport behavior wherein the carrier mobility first increases and then decreases with increase in temperature. By combining in situ transmission electron microscopy observations and theoretical calculations based on energy filtering of charge carriers, we propose a plausible mechanism of charge transport based on interphase potential that is mediated by interdiffusion between coexisting Pb and Sb precipitates. These findings promise new strategies to enhance thermoelectric figure of merit via dual and multinanostructuring of miscible precipitates.