Thermopower of SnTe from Boltzmann Transport Calculations

TL;DR

This paper uses first-principles calculations to analyze the thermopower of SnTe, revealing that n-type doping offers better thermoelectric performance than p-type, aligning with experimental data.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical analysis of SnTe's thermopower dependence on doping and temperature using Boltzmann transport calculations.

Findings

p-type thermopower is inferior to PbTe

n-type thermopower is substantially more favorable

Results align with experimental observations

Abstract

The doping and temperature dependent thermopower of SnTe is calculated from the first principles band structure using Boltzmann transport theory. We find that the $p$-type thermopower is inferior to PbTe consistent with experimental observations, but that the $n$-type thermopower is substantially more favorable.