Abstract
ZnSb is favourable as a thermoelectric material, from both an environmental and a global resources point of view. Its efficiency can possibly be improved by the reduction of the thermal conductivity through nanostructuring and optimization of doping. These tasks require a better understanding of the material and, in particular, of the interplay between preparation techniques and material properties. We have prepared bulk polycrystalline samples and report on low-temperature electrical transport measurements (6 K to room temperature). The data have been interpreted in terms of hole impurity band conduction: intrinsic acceptor defects creating bands that are conducting when there are also compensating donors. Modelling the transport reveals qualitatively good agreement. Quantitative differences are discussed in terms of the structure of the samples, which has been studied by using x-ray diffraction, a scanning electron microscope and an electron microprobe. The systematics of adding different amounts of Mn and Cr to ZnSb has been studied and has the effect of varying the density of states in impurity bands and varying the hole concentrations.
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