Thermoelectric properties of the incommensurate layered semiconductor GexNbTe2

G. Jeffrey Snyder*, T. Caillat, J. P. Fleurial

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The compounds GexNbTe2 (0.39 ≤ x ≤ 0.53) have been studied for their thermoelectric properties. By changing x, the carrier concentration can be adjusted so that the material changes from a p-type metal to a p-type semiconductor. The maximum germanium concentration at about Ge0.5NbTe2 is also the most semiconducting composition. High- and low-temperature electrical resistivity, Hall effect, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity were measured. Evidence of electronic ordering was found in some samples. The thermal conductivity is reasonably low and glasslike with room temperature values around 20-25 mW/cm K. However, the power factor is too low to compete with state-of-the-art materials. The maximum thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT found in these compounds is about 0.12. The low ZT can be traced to the low carder mobility of about 10 cm2/Vs. The related compounds Si0.5NbTe2 and Ge0.5TaTe2 were also studied.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2789-2793
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Materials Research
Volume15
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2000

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science(all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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