ABSTRACT
Many of the properties that directly relate the potential of a material for thermoelectric (TE) applications are given by the materials’ dimensionless œgure of merit, ZT,
ZT S T=
2σ κ
(14.1)
where S is the Seebeck coe²cient, σ is the electrical conductivity (= 1/ρ, where ρ is the electrical resistivity), and κ is the total thermal conductivity (where κ = κL + κe, the lattice and electronic contributions, respectively).1 še power factor, S2σ, is usually optimized as a function of carrier concentration (typically ~1019 carriers/cm3) through doping in order to achieve the largest ZT.1 An enhancement in ZT by a factor of two or more over existing TE materials currently in use is necessary for TEs to fully compete with other technologies for refrigeration or power conversion applications.2
