Electronic structure of some complex thermoelectrics – role of dimensional confinement and nanostructuring

Subhendra D. Mahanti; Khang Hoang

doi:10.1117/12.2256060

21 December 2016 Electronic structure of some complex thermoelectrics – role of dimensional confinement and nanostructuring

Subhendra D. Mahanti, Khang Hoang

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10174, International Symposium on Clusters and Nanomaterials; 101740B (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2256060
Event: International Symposium on Clusters and Nanomaterials, 2015, Richmond, Virginia, United States

Abstract

Thermoelectric materials are of great current interest for a number of energy-related applications such as waste heat recovery, terrestrial cooling, and thermoelectric power generation. There have been several significant recent advances in improving the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT; in some instances, ZT > 2 at high temperatures. Concepts like electron-crystal phonon-glass, dimensional confinement, nanostructuring, energy filtering, and intrinsic lattice anharmonicity have not only acted as guiding principles in synthesizing new materials but also for electronic structure engineering using theoretical calculations. In this review paper, we discuss these concepts and present a few examples of theoretical studies of electronic structure and transport properties illustrating how some of these ideas work. The four types of systems we discuss are quaternary chalcogenides LAST-m, nanoscale mixtures of half-Heusler and Heusler compounds, ternary chalcogenide compounds of type ABX₂ where the electronic structure near the band gap depends sensitively on the ordering of A and B atoms, and naturally occurring bulk superlattices formed out of alternating ionic and semiconducting bilayers as in SrFAgTe.

Citation Download Citation

Subhendra D. Mahanti and Khang Hoang "Electronic structure of some complex thermoelectrics – role of dimensional confinement and nanostructuring", Proc. SPIE 10174, International Symposium on Clusters and Nanomaterials, 101740B (21 December 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2256060

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available