Record-High Thermoelectric Performance in Al-Doped ZnO via Anderson Localization of Band Edge States

Illia Serhiienko; Andrei Novitskii; Fabian Garmroudi; Evgeny Kolesnikov; Evgenia Chernyshova; Tatyana Sviridova; Aleksei Bogach; Andrei Voronin; Hieu Duy Nguyen; Naoyuki Kawamoto; Ernst Bauer; Vladimir Khovaylo; Takao Mori

doi:10.1002/advs.202309291

Record-High Thermoelectric Performance in Al-Doped ZnO via Anderson Localization of Band Edge States

Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 May 5:e2309291. doi: 10.1002/advs.202309291. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Illia Serhiienko^{1

2}, Andrei Novitskii¹, Fabian Garmroudi³, Evgeny Kolesnikov⁴, Evgenia Chernyshova⁴, Tatyana Sviridova⁴, Aleksei Bogach⁵, Andrei Voronin⁴, Hieu Duy Nguyen⁶, Naoyuki Kawamoto⁶, Ernst Bauer³, Vladimir Khovaylo^{4

7}, Takao Mori^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ WPI-MANA, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan.
² Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8573, Japan.
³ Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Wien, Vienna, A-1040, Austria.
⁴ National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Moscow, 119049, Russia.
⁵ Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
⁶ Center for Basic Research on Materials (CBRM), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan.
⁷ Belgorod State University, Belgorod, 308015, Russia.

PMID: 38704699
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202309291

Abstract

Oxides are of interest for thermoelectrics due to their high thermal stability, chemical inertness, low cost, and eco-friendly constituting elements. Here, adopting a unique synthesis route via chemical co-precipitation at strongly alkaline conditions, one of the highest thermoelectric performances for ZnO ceramics ( $P F_{\max} =$ 21.5 µW cm^-1 K^-2 and $z T_{\max} =$ 0.5 at 1100 K in ${Zn}_{0.96} {Al}_{0.04} O$ ) is achieved. These results are linked to a distinct modification of the electronic structure: charge carriers become trapped at the edge of the conduction band due to Anderson localization, evidenced by an anomalously low carrier mobility, and characteristic temperature and doping dependencies of charge transport. The bi-dimensional optimization of doping and carrier localization enable a simultaneous improvement of the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, opening a novel pathway to advance ZnO thermoelectrics.

Keywords: Anderson localization; ZnO; chemical co‐precipitation; oxides; thermoelectric materials; wet chemistry.

Abstract

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