Thermoelectric materials of p and n type from the (Bi,Sb,Te) phase diagram

It seems that the lower figure of merit for sintered n type telluride compounds is due to the selenium segregation at the grain boundaries. We present the transport properties of the Bi/sub 2/Te/sub 3/ and Sb/sub 2/Te/sub 3/ binary compounds in terms of stoichiometric deviation. We discuss these properties along the pseudo-binary phase diagram to determine the domain of existence of Bi/sub 2/Te/sub 3/-Sb/sub 2/Te/sub 3/ solid solutions. The study of the (Bi,Sb,Te) phase diagram allowed us to identify a zone where n-type materials can be obtained.