Structural Studies of GeTe-AgSbTe2 Alloys

Abstract

AbstractGeTe, 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” [1]. 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 also is 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) [2]. 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 70-85 at.% GeTe.