The thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of the layered antiferromagnetic compound CuCrS 2 is further improved with increase in the Cr-vacancy disorder on sintering above 900°C. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction refinement results for different samples show that the chromium atoms are transferred from the filled layers to the vacant sites between the layers. This atomic disorder increases the electrical conductivity (r) due to self-doping of the charge carriers and reduces thermal conductivity (j) due to increase in phonon scattering. The Seebeck coefficient (S) is p-type and remains nearly temperature independent with values between 150 lV/K and 450 lV/K due to electronic doping in different samples.

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Pliable and lightweight thin-film magnets performing at room temperature are indispensable ingredients of the next-generation flexible electronics. However, conventional inorganic magnets based on f-block metals are rigid and heavy, whereas the emerging organic/molecular magnets are inferior regarding their magnetic characteristics. Here we fuse the best features of the two worlds, by tailoring ε-Fe 2 O 3 -terephthalate superlattice thin films with inbuilt flexibility due to the thin organic layers intimately embedded within the ferrimagnetic ε-Fe 2 O 3 matrix; these films are also sustainable as they do not contain rare heavy metals. The films are grown with sub-nanometer-scale accuracy from gaseous precursors using the atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) technique. Tensile tests confirm the expected increased flexibility with increasing organic content reaching a 3-fold decrease in critical bending radius (2.4 ± 0.3 mm) as compared to ε-Fe 2 O 3 thin film (7.7 ± 0.3 mm). Most remarkably, these hybrid ε-Fe 2 O 3 -terephthalate films do not compromise the exceptional intrinsic magnetic characteristics of the ε-Fe 2 O 3 phase, in particular the ultrahigh coercive force (∼2 kOe) even at room temperature.