STRUCTURAL, ELECTRICAL, AND THERMOELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF ( Bi_1-x Sb_x)₂ Se₃ ALLOYS PREPARED BY A CONVENTIONAL MELTING TECHNIQUE
Shokr E.Kh., Ibrahim E.M.M., Abdel Hakeem A.M., Adam A.M.

Received: June 18, 2012

DOI: 10.7868/S0044451013010191

DJVU (168.3K)

PDF (907K)

Polycrystalline solid solutions of ( Bi_1-x Sb_x)₂ Se₃ (x=0, 0.025, 0.050, 0.075, 0.100) were prepared using a facile method based on the conventional melting technique followed by annealing process. X-ray analysis and Raman spectroscopical measurements revealed formation of Bi₂ Se₃ in single phase. The electrical and thermoelectric properties have been studied on the bulk samples in the temperature range 100-420 K. The electrical conductivity measurements show that the activation energy and room-temperature electrical conductivity dependences on the Sb content respectively exhibit minimum and maximum values at x=0.05. The thermoelectric power exhibited a maximum value near the room temperature suggesting promising materials for room-temperature applications. The highest power factor value was found to be 13.53 μ W•K^-2•cm^-1 and recorded for the x=0.05 compound.