Thermoelectric performance of lanthanum telluride produced via mechanical alloying

Andrew F. May, Jean-Pierre Fleurial, and G. Jeffrey Snyder
Phys. Rev. B 78, 125205 – Published 19 September 2008

Abstract

Lanthanum telluride (La3xTe4) has been synthesized via mechanical alloying and characterized for thermoelectric performance. This work confirms prior reports of lanthanum telluride as a good high-temperature thermoelectric material, with zT1.1 obtained at 1275 K. The thermoelectric performance is found to be better than that of SiGe, the current state-of-the-art high-temperature n-type thermoelectric material. Inherent self-doping of the system allows control over carrier concentration via sample stoichiometry. Prior high-temperature syntheses were prone to solute rejection in liquid and vapor phases, which resulted in inhomogeneous chemical composition and carrier concentration. The low-temperature synthesis provides homogeneous samples with acceptable control of the stoichiometry, and thus allows a thorough examination of the transition from a heavily doped degenerate semiconductor to a nondegenerate semiconductor. The effect of carrier concentration on the Hall mobility, Seebeck coefficient, thermal and electrical conductivity, lattice thermal conductivity, and thermoelectric compatibility are examined for 0.03x0.33.

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  • Received 30 April 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.125205

©2008 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Andrew F. May1, Jean-Pierre Fleurial2, and G. Jeffrey Snyder3

  • 1Department of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  • 2Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California 91109, USA
  • 3Department of Materials Science, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

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Issue

Vol. 78, Iss. 12 — 15 September 2008

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