Silicon nanowires as efficient thermoelectric materials

被引:2360
作者
Boukai, Akram I. [1 ]
Bunimovich, Yuri [1 ]
Tahir-Kheli, Jamil [1 ]
Yu, Jen-Kan [1 ]
Goddard, William A., III [1 ]
Heath, James R. [1 ]
机构
[1] CALTECH, Div Chem & Chem Engn, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
D O I
10.1038/nature06458
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
Thermoelectric materials interconvert thermal gradients and electric fields for power generation or for refrigeration(1,2). Thermoelectrics currently find only niche applications because of their limited efficiency, which is measured by the dimensionless parameter ZT - a function of the Seebeck coefficient or thermoelectric power, and of the electrical and thermal conductivities. Maximizing ZT is challenging because optimizing one physical parameter often adversely affects another(3). Several groups have achieved significant improvements in ZT through multi- component nanostructured thermoelectrics(4-6), such as Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 thin- film superlattices, or embedded PbSeTe quantum dot superlattices. Here we report efficient thermoelectric performance from the single- component system of silicon nanowires for cross- sectional areas of 10 nm x 20 nm and 20 nm x 20 nm. By varying the nanowire size and impurity doping levels, ZT values representing an approximately 100- fold improvement over bulk Si are achieved over a broad temperature range, including ZT approximate to 1 at 200 K. Independent measurements of the Seebeck coefficient, the electrical conductivity and the thermal conductivity, combined with theory, indicate that the improved efficiency originates from phonon effects. These results are expected to apply to other classes of semiconductor nanomaterials.
引用
收藏
页码:168 / 171
页数:4
相关论文
共 30 条
  • [1] QUANTITATIVE EXAMINATION OF THE THERMOELECTRIC-POWER OF N-TYPE SI IN THE PHONON DRAG REGIME
    BEHNEN, E
    [J]. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, 1990, 67 (01) : 287 - 292
  • [2] Size-dependent transport and thermoelectric properties of individual polycrystalline bismuth nanowires
    Boukai, A
    Xu, K
    Heath, JR
    [J]. ADVANCED MATERIALS, 2006, 18 (07) : 864 - +
  • [3] LOWER LIMIT TO THE THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY OF DISORDERED CRYSTALS
    CAHILL, DG
    WATSON, SK
    POHL, RO
    [J]. PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 1992, 46 (10): : 6131 - 6140
  • [4] Recent developments in thermoelectric materials
    Chen, G
    Dresselhaus, MS
    Dresselhaus, G
    Fleurial, JP
    Caillat, T
    [J]. INTERNATIONAL MATERIALS REVIEWS, 2003, 48 (01) : 45 - 66
  • [5] SEEBECK EFFECT IN SILICON
    GEBALLE, TH
    HULL, GW
    [J]. PHYSICAL REVIEW, 1955, 98 (04): : 940 - 947
  • [6] GUREVICH L, 1946, ZH EKSP TEOR FIZ+, V16, P193
  • [7] Quantum dot superlattice thermoelectric materials and devices
    Harman, TC
    Taylor, PJ
    Walsh, MP
    LaForge, BE
    [J]. SCIENCE, 2002, 297 (5590) : 2229 - 2232
  • [8] THEORY OF THE THERMOELECTRIC POWER OF SEMICONDUCTORS
    HERRING, C
    [J]. PHYSICAL REVIEW, 1954, 96 (05): : 1163 - 1187
  • [9] THERMOELECTRIC FIGURE OF MERIT OF A ONE-DIMENSIONAL CONDUCTOR
    HICKS, LD
    DRESSELHAUS, MS
    [J]. PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 1993, 47 (24): : 16631 - 16634
  • [10] Cubic AgPbmSbTe2+m:: Bulk thermoelectric materials with high figure of merit
    Hsu, KF
    Loo, S
    Guo, F
    Chen, W
    Dyck, JS
    Uher, C
    Hogan, T
    Polychroniadis, EK
    Kanatzidis, MG
    [J]. SCIENCE, 2004, 303 (5659) : 818 - 821