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We explored the effect of Cd substitution on the thermoelectric properties of PbTe in an effort to test a theoretical hypothesis that Cd atoms on Pb sites of the rock salt lattice can increase the Seebeck coefficient via the formation of a resonance level in the density of states near the Fermi energy. We find that the solubility of Cd is less than previously reported, and CdTe precipitation occurs to create nanostructuring, which strongly suppresses the lattice thermal conductivity. We present detailed characterization including structural and spectroscopic data, transmission electron microscopy, and thermoelectric transport properties of samples of PbTe-x% CdTe-0.055% PbI(2) (x = 1, 3, 5, 7, 10), PbTe-1% CdTe-y% PbI(2) (y = 0.03, 0.045, 0.055, 0.08, 0.1, 0.2), PbTe-5% CdTe-y% PbI(2) (y = 0.01, 0.03, 0.055, 0.08), and PbTe-1% CdTe-z% Sb (z = 0.3, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). All samples follow the Pisarenko relationship, and no enhancement of the Seebeck coefficient was observed that could be attributed to a resonance level or a distortion in the density of states. A maximum ZT of approximately 1.2 at approximately 720 K was achieved for the PbTe-1% CdTe-0.055% PbI(2) sample arising from a high power factor of approximately 17 microW/(cm K(2)) and a very low lattice thermal conductivity of approximately 0.5 W/(m K) at approximately 720 K.

The effect of K and K-Na substitution for Pb atoms in the rock salt lattice of PbTe was investigated to test a hypothesis for development of resonant states in the valence band that may enhance the thermoelectric power. We combined high temperature Hall-effect, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity measurements to show that K-Na co-doping do not form resonance states but2 can control the energy difference of the maxima of the two primary valence sub-bands in PbTe. This leads to an enhanced interband interaction with rising temperature and a significant rise in the thermoelectric figure of merit of p-type PbTe. The experimental data can be explained by a combination of a single and two-band model for the valence band of PbTe depending on hole density that varies in the range of 1 − 15 × 10 19 cm −3 .