Evolution of defect structures leading to high ZT in GeTe-based thermoelectric materials

Evolution of defect structures leading to high ZT in GeTe-based thermoelectric materials Abstract GeTe is a promising mid-temperature thermoelectric compound but inevitably contains excessive Ge vacancies hindering its performance maximization. This work reveals that significant enhancement in the dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) could be realized by defect structure engineering from point defects to line and plane defects of Ge vacancies. The evolved defects including dislocations and nanodo...