Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten

DS 38: Poster III: Resistive switching (jointly with DF, KR, HL); Thermoelectric materials (Focused session); Micro- and nanopatterning (jointly with O); Ion irradiation effects

DS 38.21: Poster

Thursday, March 29, 2012, 17:30–19:00, Poster E

Optimizing thermoelectric Properties: Microstructure Analysis of Ag_1−xPb₁₈Sb_1+yTe₂₀ — •Susanne Perlt¹, Thomas Höche², Jayaram Dadda³, and Eckhard Müller³ — ¹Leibniz Institute of Surface Modification, Leipzig — ²Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials, Halle — ³German Aerospace Center, Institute of Materials Research, Köln

The feasible recovery of waste-heat energy as it is generated by industrial and vehicle engines has led to increasing research interest in thermoelectrics (TE). In order to get TE materials with high performance, i.e. with a large figure of merit ZT, one needs to tune electronic and phononic properties. A promising candidate is the quaternary compound Ag_1−xPb₁₈Sb_1+yTe₂₀ (Lead-Antimony-Silver-Tellurium, LAST) for applications in the mid-temperature range. While the self-organized nanostructures assumed to act as phonon scatterers decrease the lattice thermal conductivity κ_L, the volume fraction of Sb and Ag and their ratio in the matrix have a significant influence on the electronic properties of the material. This study reports microstructure investigations at the micrometer and nanometer scale regarding SEM and TEM analysis, as well as measurements concerning TE properties. An attempt is made to derive a structure-property relationship.