Thermoelectric material and method of manufacturing the material

Abstract

The present invention provides a thermoelectric material and a method of manufacturing it. The thermoelectric material contains a half-Heusler compound including a composition represented by: (Ti1-aAa)1+x(Ni1-bBb)1+y(Sn1-cCc) where 0≦a<0.1, 0≦b<0.1 and 0≦c<0.1; −0.1≦x≦0.2 and 0<y≦0.2; A is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of group IIIa elements, group IVa elements (excluding Ti), group Va elements and rare earth elements; B is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of group VIIIa elements (excluding Ni) and group Ib elements; and C is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of group IIIb elements, group IVb elements (excluding Sn) and group Vb elements, wherein amounts of Zr substitution and Hf substitution at Ti sites of the half-Heusler compound are less than 1 at %, respectively.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.