Self-tuning of carrier concentration for high thermoelectric performance
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsG. Jeffrey Snyder, Yanzhong Pei
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The inventors demonstrate herein that homogeneous Ag-doped PbTe/Ag2Te composites exhibit high thermoelectric performance (˜50% over La-doped composites) associated with an inherent temperature induced gradient in the doping concentration caused by the temperature-dependent solubility of Ag in the PbTe matrix. This method provides a new mechanism to achieve a higher thermoelectric efficiency afforded by a given material system, and is generally applicable to other thermoelectric materials.
Claims12
A composition comprising excess dopant, wherein:
- (1) the composition comprises PbTe/Ag2Te;
- (2) the excess dopant comprises Ag;
- and (3) the excess dopant has an increasing solubility limit with increasing temperature (T).
A method of using a composition comprising PbTe/Ag2Te in a thermoelectric device, wherein:
- (1) the composition comprises excess dopant;
- (2) the excess dopant comprises Ag;
- and (3) the excess dopant has an increasing solubility limit with increasing temperature (T), within a temperature range of high thermoelectric performance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.