Impurity band conduction in the thermoelectric material ZnSb

Song, Xin; Böttger, P. H. Michael; Karlsen, O. B.; Finstad, T. G.; Taftø, J.

doi:10.1088/0031-8949/2012/t148/014001

Cited by 26 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 116 publications

(221 reference statements)

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“…It was also observed for ZnSb by Justi et al in the 1960s [14]. Recently, several others have reported on impurity bands in ZnSb [53,79,83].…”

Section: Impurity Band Conductionsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…However, the Hall coefficient in undoped ZnSb has shown a turning point at low temperatures, typically below 50K, as seen in Figure 7, and then a decrease with further cooling, which is explained by impurity band conduction [79]. Here, the term impurity band is most likely tied to defects, but observed phenomena are similar to what can be observed for high doping concentration in semiconductors.…”

Section: Impurity Band Conductionsupporting

confidence: 56%

“…The specifics of this observation are given in [79]. The changes in hole concentration as the sample was cooled is in principle similar to that of a textbook low doping concentration semiconductor, where the charge carriers are frozen out of the valence band.…”

Section: Impurity Band Conductionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…(Reprinted with permission from [85]. Copyright in previous study, which is around the acceptor concentrations used in the model to fit the low temperature measurements [79]. For the doping concentration of 10 18 -10 19 cm -3 in ZnSb, one can expect impurity bands to form.…”

Section: Thermoelectrics For Power Generation -A Look At Trends In Thmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Figure 8 compares the Hall concentration of the charge carrier and the Hall mobility (inset) at low temperature for high (0.3at.% Cu) and lower concentration (no Cu), respectively (data in Refs. [52,79]). One can see that the characteristic feature of impurity band conduction vanished in the highly doped sample at low temperature.…”

Section: Impurity Band Conductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review of Research on the Thermoelectric Material ZnSb

Song¹,

Finstad²

2016

Thermoelectrics for Power Generation - A Look at Trends in the Technology

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The thermoelectric material ZnSb has been studied intensively in recent years and has shown promising features. The other zinc-antimonide compound, Zn 4 Sb 3 has remarkable low thermal conductivity, but it is accompanied with phase transitions at moderate temperature and has inherent stability problems. Compared to that, ZnSb is relatively phase stable and has a relative high charge carrier mobility and Seebeck coefficient, thus yielding a decent power factor. Meanwhile, its thermal conductivity can be reduced by means of nanostructuring, thus giving a good figure of merit at moderate temperatures, 400-600K. Many researchers have dedicated their efforts to study and improve ZnSb properties, and the figure of merit has been reported to be above one. Still, ZnSb as a thermoelectric material has features and behaviours that are not well-understood. The behaviour and properties of its intrinsic defects are not understood, but have interested researchers in recent years. This chapter intends to offer a comprehensive review on ZnSb to the readers. By combining own experiences from research on thermoelectric materials, the authors address the prospect for improving the thermoelectric properties of ZnSb and the concerns of transferring lab results to manufacturing.

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“…It was also observed for ZnSb by Justi et al in the 1960s [14]. Recently, several others have reported on impurity bands in ZnSb [53,79,83].…”

Section: Impurity Band Conductionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Impurity Band Conductionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Section: Impurity Band Conductionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Thermoelectrics For Power Generation -A Look At Trends In Thmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Impurity Band Conductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Review of Research on the Thermoelectric Material ZnSb

Song¹,

Finstad²

2016

Thermoelectrics for Power Generation - A Look at Trends in the Technology

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Transport Properties of Ag‐doped ZnSb

Eklöf

Fischer

Grîns

et al. 2020

Zeitschrift anorg allge chemie

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The intermetallic compound ZnSb is a (II‐V) narrow gap semiconductor with interesting thermoelectric properties. Electrical resistivity, Hall coefficient, thermopower and thermal conductivity were measured up to 400 K on Ag‐doped samples with concentrations 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 at.%, which were consolidated to densities in excess of 99.5 % by spark plasma sintering. The work confirms a huge improvement of the thermoelectric Figure‐of‐merit, ZT, upon Ag doping. The optimum doping level is near 0.5 at.% Ag and results in ZT values around 1.05 at 390 K. The improvement stems from a largely decreased resistivity, which in turn relates to an increase of the hole charge carrier concentration by two orders of magnitude. It is argued that Ag can replace minute concentrations of Zn (on the order of 0.2 at.%) in the crystal structure which enhances the intrinsic impurity band of ZnSb. Excess Ag was found to segregate in grain boundaries. So the best performing material may be considered as a composite Zn~0.998Ag~0.002Sb/Ag~0.003.

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