Half-Heusler thermoelectrics: a complex class of materials

Half-Heusler thermoelectrics first attracted interest in the late-1990s and are currently undergoing a renaissance. This has been driven by improved synthesis, processing and characterisation methods, leading to increases in the thermoelectric figure of merit and the observation of novel phenomena such as carrier filtering in nanocomposite samples. The difficulty in extracting good thermoelectric performance is at first glance surprising given the relative simplicity of the ideal crystal structure with only site occupancies and lattice parameter as crystallographic variables. However, the observed thermoelectric properties are found to depend sensitively on sample processing. Recent work has shown that prepared ingots can contain a range of inhomogeneities, including interstitials, nano- and micron sized Heusler inclusions and multiple half-Heusler phases. For this reason, the prepared materials are far more complex than initially appreciated and this may offer opportunities to enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit.