Temperature-dependent elastic moduli of lead telluride-based thermoelectric materials

Abstract

In the open literature, reports of mechanical properties are limited for semiconducting thermoelectric materials, including the temperature dependence of elastic moduli. In this study, for both cast ingots and hot-pressed billets of Ag-, Sb-, Sn- and S-doped PbTe thermoelectric materials, resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) was utilized to determine the temperature dependence of elastic moduli, including Young's modulus, shear modulus and Poisson's ratio. This study is the first to determine the temperature-dependent elastic moduli for these PbTe-based thermoelectrics, and among the few determinations of elasticity of any thermoelectric material for temperatures above 300 K. The Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio, measured from room temperature to 773 K during heating and cooling, agreed well. Also, the observed Young's modulus, E, versus temperature, T, relationship, E(T) = E ₀(1–bT), is consistent with predictions for materials in the range well above the Debye temperature. A nanoindentation study of Young's modulus on the specimen faces showed that both the cast and hot-pressed specimens were approximately elastically isotropic.

Keywords:

• semiconductors
• elasticity
• ultrasonics
• cast
• hot-pressed
• thermoelectric

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial assistance of the U.S. Department of Energy Grant DE-FC26-04NT42281 and Office of Naval Research MURI Grant number N000140310789. The research work at the High Temperature Materials Laboratory was sponsored by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Freedom CAR and Vehicle Technologies, as part of the High Temperature Materials Laboratory User Program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725. One of the authors (F. Ren) would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Higher Education Research Experience program sponsored by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory during his tenure at the High Temperature Materials Laboratory.