Tuning of the Thermoelectric Figure of Merit of CH$_3$NH$_3$MI$_3$ (M=Pb,Sn) Photovoltaic Perovskites

Abstract: The hybrid halide perovskites, the very performant compounds in photovoltaic applications, possess large Seebeck coefficient and low thermal conductivity making them potentially interesting high figure of merit ($ZT$) materials. For this purpose one needs to tune the electrical conductivity of these semiconductors to higher values. We have studied the CH$_3$NH$_3$MI$_3$ (M=Pb,Sn) samples in pristine form showing very low $ZT$ values for both materials; however, photoinduced doping (in M=Pb) and chemical doping (in M=Sn) indicate that, by further doping optimization, $ZT$ can be enhanced toward unity and reach the performance level of the presently most efficient thermoelectric materials.