Amorphous-like thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric figure of merit in “π” SnS and SnSe

Using state-of-the-art ab initio modelling, we predict the structurally-complex “π” phases of SnS and SnSe to show glass-like thermal conductivity and a low-temperature figure of merit ZT > 1 if they can be stabilised with heavy n-type doping.