High-throughput development of flexible amorphous materials showing large anomalous Nernst effect via automatic annealing and thermoelectric imaging

TL;DR

This study introduces a high-throughput method combining automated annealing and thermography to discover flexible materials with large anomalous Nernst effects, identifying promising candidates and insights into their structural origins.

Contribution

It presents a novel high-throughput screening approach for flexible ANE materials, revealing key structural factors influencing the effect in amorphous alloys.

Findings

Seven high-performance flexible ANE materials identified

Maximum anomalous Nernst coefficient of 4.8 μV/K achieved

ANE enhancement linked to crystallization temperature and atomic order

Abstract

This work demonstrates high-throughput screening of flexible magnetic materials for efficient transverse thermoelectric conversion based on the anomalous Nernst effect (ANE). The approach integrates automated annealing and contactless measurement of transport properties using lock-in thermography. We screen 151 Fe-based alloy ribbons with varying compositions and annealing conditions. Seven high-performance candidates with mechanical flexibility are identified, exhibiting anomalous Nernst coefficients of up to 4.8 uV/K, the highest value reported for flexible materials. Structural analysis reveals that ANE enhancement occurs universally near the first crystallization temperature of the Fe-based ribbons, without strong correlation with composition. Notably, the enhancement is also observed in samples without Cu or Fe nanoclusters, indicating that short-range atomic order in the amorphous matrix may play a role in ANE. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of high-throughput methodologies for discovering advanced ANE materials and provide new insights into thermoelectric conversion in disordered systems where conventional design principles fall short.