High‐pressure thermopower of PbTe‐based compounds

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Abstract
In the present paper the thermoelectric properties of p‐type PbTe‐based compounds (Pb1–xGaxTe, Pb1–xSnxTe, Pb1–xSixTe, Pb1–xMnxTe, PbTe1–y, Pb1–yTe) have been investigated at high pressure up to ∼12 GPa. Structural phase transitions from cubic NaCl into orthorhombic GeS structure have been observed with thermoelectric measurements. A low sensitivity of thermoelectric properties to high‐pressure treatment has been found for PbSnTe compounds (x ≈ 0.29). For the rest of the samples with a small content of doping atoms a sign inversion and a following maximum of thermoelectric power S have been established at pressures ∼1–3 GPa. The results obtained show the possibility of improving the thermoelectric figure of merit and effectiveness at moderate pressures for PbTe‐based compounds.