Defects controlled hole doping and multivalley transport in SnSe single crystals
- Journal: nature communications
- Published Year: 2018
- Authors: Zhen Wang, Congcong Fan, Zhixuan Shen, Chenqiang Hua, Qifeng Hu, Feng Sheng, Yunhao Lu, Hanyan Fang, Zhizhan Qiu, Jiong Lu, Zhengtai Liu, Wanling Liu, Yaobo Huang, Zhu-An Xu, D. W. Shen & Yi Zheng
- Application: energy conversion, energy efficiency, high performance thermoelectric devices
Summary
This paper shows that SnSe crystals have unusual heat flow properties, which make them excellent for converting heat into electricity. Their unique layered structure causes heat to move unevenly and very slowly through the material, helping it perform better than many other thermoelectric materials. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to analyze surface defects and atomic structure, providing detailed insight into how these imperfections affect heat transport. The AFM data, combined with experiments and calculations, helped explain the material’s low thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric efficiency, highlighting SnSe’s promise for eco-friendly energy technologies.
