Thermoelectric Properties of Topological Insulators

Abstract

Many efficient thermoelectric materials belong to the class of topological insulators. Therefore, in recent years considerable efforts have been made to elucidate the influence of nontrivial electronic topology on the thermoelectric properties of thermoelectrics. This review describes the basic transport properties of helical surface states of topological insulators. Their effect on the thermoelectric efficiency of materials is discussed. The main attention is paid to (Bi,Sb)2(Te,Se)3 alloys, which combine the properties of the best thermoelectrics and a model topological insulator.

Material properties particularly suited to be measured with helium scattering: selected examples from 2D materials, van der Waals heterostructures, glassy materials, catalytic substrates, topological insulators and superconducting radio frequency materials

“…Consequently, e-ph coupling should be the dominant scattering mechanism for surface electronic states at finite temperatures. TIs such as Bi 2 Te 3 are also classic thermoelectric materials 150,151 with a large Seebeck coefficient and, as such, they have been used in thermoelectric refrigeration for a long time. Since the thermoelectric performance is closely related to the phonon dispersion and details of their electronic structure, information on the phonon dispersion and the e-ph coupling is essential to fully understand their thermoelectric properties.…”

Epitaxial and large area Sb2Te3thin films on silicon by MOCVD

“…Chalcogenide structures, such as two-dimensional layered materials, 1 thin lms, [2][3][4] and nanowires, [5][6][7] recently have become technologically relevant materials in the context of memory devices and spintronics. 8 In particular, the semiconductor antimony telluride (Sb 2 Te 3 ) has been exploited in phase change memory cells, taking advantage of its reversible amorphous-to-crystalline transition, 9,10 as a thermoelectric material, [11][12][13] and more recently as a topological insulator (TI), 14,15 since it has been demonstrated, despite its insulating bulk, to possess surface Dirac cones and conductive edge states.…”

Anomalous Behavior of the Elastic and Optical Properties in Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.8Se1.2 Topological Insulator Induced by Point Defects

“…However, the defects, which local concentration depends sensitively on method and crystal growth condition also can be formed. The presence of the defects in the topological insulator materials having a tetradymite structure crucially influences their properties . Although this problem can be minimized by using thin films instead of bulk crystals, their random distribution leads to the formation of substantial surface disorder.…”