Giant Nernst effect and bipolarity in the quasi-one-dimensional metal, Li(0.9)Mo(6)O(17)

TL;DR

This study reports an exceptionally large Nernst effect and high thermomagnetic efficiency in Li(0.9)Mo(6)O(17), revealing its bipolar conduction and potential for thermoelectric applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates the giant Nernst effect and bipolarity in Li(0.9)Mo(6)O(17), with high thermomagnetic figure of merit, advancing understanding of thermoelectric properties in quasi-one-dimensional metals.

Findings

Nernst coefficient ~500 microV/KT at 20K

Large thermomagnetic figure of merit ZT~0.5 at 35-50K

Bipolar conduction with opposite sign Seebeck coefficients

Abstract

The Nernst coefficient for the quasi-one-dimensional metal, Li(0.9)Mo(6)O(17), is found to be among the largest known for metals (~500 microV/KT at T~20K), and is enhanced in a broad range of temperature by orders of magnitude over the value expected from Boltzmann theory for carrier diffusion. A comparatively small Seebeck coefficient implies that Li(0.9)Mo(6)O(17) is bipolar with large, partial Seebeck coefficients of opposite sign. A very large thermomagnetic figure of merit, ZT~0.5, is found at high field in the range T~35-50K.