초록 ▼

Ternary tellurium compounds and ternary selenium compounds may be used in fabricating thermoelectric devices with a thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of 1.5 or greater. Examples of such compounds include Tl2SnTe5, Tl2GeTe5, K2SnTe5 and Rb2SnTe5. These compounds have similar types of crystal lattic

Ternary tellurium compounds and ternary selenium compounds may be used in fabricating thermoelectric devices with a thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of 1.5 or greater. Examples of such compounds include Tl2SnTe5, Tl2GeTe5, K2SnTe5 and Rb2SnTe5. These compounds have similar types of crystal lattice structures which include a first substructure with a (Sn, Ge) Te5 composition and a second substructure with chains of selected cation atoms. The second substructure includes selected cation atoms which interact with selected anion atoms to maintain a desired separation between the chains of the first substructure. The cation atoms which maintain the desired separation between the chains occupy relatively large electropositive sites in the resulting crystal lattice structure which results in a relatively low value for the lattice component of thermal conductivity (.kappa.g). The first substructure of anion chains indicates significant anisotropy in the thermoelectric characteristics of the resulting semiconductor materials.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A ternary semiconductor compound having the formulaX2YZ5 whereinX is selected from the group consisting of Tl, Cu, Ag, In, Cs, K, Na and Rb; Y is selected from the group consisting of Si, Ge, and Sn; and Z is selected from the group consisting of Te and Se wherein the ternary semiconductor compou

1. A ternary semiconductor compound having the formulaX2YZ5 whereinX is selected from the group consisting of Tl, Cu, Ag, In, Cs, K, Na and Rb; Y is selected from the group consisting of Si, Ge, and Sn; and Z is selected from the group consisting of Te and Se wherein the ternary semiconductor compound is a crystalline compound having a single pure phase.