Yanzhong Pei
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Research Subjects
Research Interests
Yanzhong Pei has a total of 3 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
Aaron D. LaLonde
Department of Materials Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
1 shared publication- Gerald Jeffrey Snyder
Northwestern University
1 shared publication Heng Wang
Department of Materials Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Top Cited Papers
- 21 May 2012
- Published by National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 109 (25) , 9705-9709
Weak electron–phonon coupling contributing to high thermoelectric performance in n-type PbSe
PbSe is a surprisingly good thermoelectric material due, in part, to its low thermal conductivity that had been overestimated in earlier measurements. The thermoelectric figure of merit, zT , can exceed 1 at high temperatures in both p-type and n-type PbSe, similar to that found in PbTe. While the p-type lead chalcogenides (PbSe and PbTe) benefit from the high valley degeneracy (12 or more at high temperature) of the valence band, the n-type versions are limited to a valley degeneracy of 4 in the conduction band. Yet the n-type lead chalcogenides achieve a zT nearly as high as the p-type lead chalcogenides. This effect can be attributed to the weaker electron–phonon coupling (lower deformation potential coefficient) in the conduction band as compared with that in the valence band, which leads to higher mobility of electrons compared to that of holes. This study of PbSe illustrates the importance of the deformation potential coefficient of the charge-carrying band as one of several key parameters to consider for band structure engineering and the search for high performance thermoelectric materials.
- 21 May 2012
- Published by National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 109 (25) , 9705-9709
Top Cited PapersWeak electron–phonon coupling contributing to high thermoelectric performance in n-type PbSe
PbSe is a surprisingly good thermoelectric material due, in part, to its low thermal conductivity that had been overestimated in earlier measurements. The thermoelectric figure of merit, zT , can exceed 1 at high temperatures in both p-type and n-type PbSe, similar to that found in PbTe. While the p-type lead chalcogenides (PbSe and PbTe) benefit from the high valley degeneracy (12 or more at high temperature) of the valence band, the n-type versions are limited to a valley degeneracy of 4 in the conduction band. Yet the n-type lead chalcogenides achieve a zT nearly as high as the p-type lead chalcogenides. This effect can be attributed to the weaker electron–phonon coupling (lower deformation potential coefficient) in the conduction band as compared with that in the valence band, which leads to higher mobility of electrons compared to that of holes. This study of PbSe illustrates the importance of the deformation potential coefficient of the charge-carrying band as one of several key parameters to consider for band structure engineering and the search for high performance thermoelectric materials.