Thermoelectric propertie of Ge based electron crystal phonon glass materials

Abstract: We report on the elaboration of germanium manganese nanostructured thin films and the measurement of their thermoelectric properties. We investigate the growth of Ge:Mn layers along with a thorough structural characterization of this materials at the nanoscale. The room temperature thermoelectric properties of these layers containing spherical inclusions are discussed regarding their potential as a model of "electron crystal phonon glass material". We show that the thermal conductivity can be decreased by a factor of 30, even if the electronic properties can be conserved as in the bulk. The thermoelectric performance ZT of such material is as high as 0.15 making them a promising thermoelectric p-type material for Ge related application.