Effect of antimony content on the thermoelectric figure of merit of Bi1-xSbx alloys

The electrical resistivity, thermoelectric power and thermal conductivity have been measured between 4.2 and 300 K on three Bi1-xSbx alloys of different composition (x = 0.144, 0.165 and 0.181) prepared by the travelling heater method. The temperature dependences of these parameters follow the same general trends as those of semiconducting alloys having lower Sb contents. The antimony dependence of the figure of merit for semiconducting alloys has been determined for various temperatures. The dependence presents two maxima for Sb contents of x approximate to 0.09 and 0.16 around 80 K. These features have been qualitatively explained from the band structure and interband hole Scattering mechanisms. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.