Anomalous enhancement of the thermoelectric figure of merit by V co-doping of Nb-SrTiO3

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Ozdogan K., KAHALY M. U., ALSHAREEF H. N., SCHWINGENSCHLOEGL U.

APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, vol.100, no.19, 2012 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 100 Issue: 19
  • Publication Date: 2012
  • Doi Number: 10.1063/1.4714541
  • Journal Name: APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Yıldız Technical University Affiliated: No

Abstract

The effect of V co-doping of Nb-SrTiO3 is studied by full-potential density functional theory. We obtain a stronger increase of the carrier density for V than for Nb dopants. While in Nb-SrTiO3 a high carrier density counteracts a high thermoelectric figure of merit, the trend is inverted by V co-doping. The mechanism leading to this behavior is explained in terms of a local spin-polarization introduced by the V ions. Our results indicate that magnetic co-doping can be a prominent tool for improving the thermoelectric figure of merit. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4714541]