Transition-metal pentatellurides as potential low-temperature thermoelectric refrigeration materials

The importance of the future development of materials for use in low-temperature thermoelectric refrigeration devices is discussed. Specifically, results are presented on an interesting class of materials called pentatellurides, HfTe5 and ZrTe5, which have shown promising low-temperature thermoelectric properties (100K < T < 250 K). Substitutional doping occurs both on the metal site as Hf1-xZrxTe5 solid solutions, and on the Te site with Se. Proper doping leads to a decrease in resistivity and an enhancement of thermopower which results in a doubling of the power factor (electronic properties) which is then very competitive with the power factor of existing thermoelectric materials in these temperature regimes. [S0163-1829(99)06743-0].