Microstructure and Crystal Structure in TAGS Compositions

Abstract

GeTe, a small bandgap semiconductor that has native p-type defects due to Ge vacancies, is an important constituent in the thermoelectric material known as TAGS. TAGS is an acronym for alloys of GeTe with AgSbTe2, and compositions are normally designated as TAGS-x, where x is the fraction of GeTe. TAGS-85 is the most important with regard to applications, and there is also commercial interest in TAGS-80. The crystal structure of GeTe1+δ has a composition-dependent phase transformation at a temperature ranging from 430°C (δ = 0) to ~400°C (δ = 0.02). The high-temperature form is cubic. The low-temperature form is rhombohedral for δ < 0.01, as is the case for good thermoelectric performance. Addition of AgSbTe2 shifts the phase transformation to lower temperatures, and one of the goals of this work is a systematic study of the dependence of transformation temperature on the parameter x. We present results on phase transformations and associated instabilities in TAGS compositions in the range of 70 at.% to 85 at.% GeTe.