Tight-binding modeling of thermoelectric properties of bismuth telluride
Authors:
- 9 January 2006
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 88 (2) , 022107
Abstract
A parameterized orthogonal tight-binding model with sp3d5s* orbitals, nearest-neighbor interactions, and spin-orbit coupling is developed for bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) and used to study its thermoelectric properties. Thermoelectric transport coefficients and figures of merit for n-doped and p-doped Bi2Te3 are calculated by solving Boltzmann’s transport equation within the constant-relaxation-time approximation. The dependence of the computed thermoelectric figure of merit on the electrical conductivity is in good agreement with experiment. The parameterized tight-binding model serves as a basis for studies of confined Bi2Te3 systems in search of enhanced thermoelectric properties.Keywords
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- Fabrication Method for Thermoelectric NanodevicesAdvanced Materials, 2005
- Bismuth telluride nanotubes and the effects on the thermoelectric properties of nanotube-containing nanocompositesApplied Physics Letters, 2005
- Bismuth Telluride (Bi2Te3) Nanowires Synthesized by Cyclic Electrodeposition/Stripping Coupled with Step Edge DecorationNano Letters, 2004
- One‐Dimensional Nanostructures: Synthesis, Characterization, and ApplicationsAdvanced Materials, 2003
- Thin-film thermoelectric devices with high room-temperature figures of meritNature, 2001
- Theoretical modeling of thermoelectricity in Bi nanowiresApplied Physics Letters, 1999
- Significant decrease of the lattice thermal conductivity due to phonon confinement in a free-standing semiconductor quantum wellPhysical Review B, 1998
- Thermoelectric figure of merit of a one-dimensional conductorPhysical Review B, 1993
- Effect of quantum-well structures on the thermoelectric figure of meritPhysical Review B, 1993
- Thermoelectric Refrigeration1964