Abstract
Revelation of transport properties in a broad range of carrier concentration is indispensable for thermoelectrics to locate its performance optimum. This signifies inevitable efforts on the syntheses of many samples with various concentrations of dopants. Moreover, the realization of low carrier concentration is usually a great challenge for a precise control. Directional solidification can thermodynamically enable a spontaneous gradient in composition, therefore, naturally offers a convenient pathway to continuously manipulate the dopant concentration thus the carrier concentration by one synthesis. In this work, gradiently sodium-doped PbTe ingots with ∼10 mm in diameter are successfully synthesized by a vertical gradient solidification (VGS) technique. Such a composition gradient leads to an efficient manipulation of hole concentration in a broad range as well as a continuous variation in transport properties along the solidification direction. The comparable transport properties to the literatures demonstrate the strategy used here to be highly efficient for the evaluation of transport properties, which is believed to be equally applicable for efficient research of both existing and novel thermoelectric materials.
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