Thermoelectric properties of heavily boron- and phosphorus-doped silicon

In recent years, nanostructured thermoelectric materials have attracted much attention. However, despite this increasing attention, available information on the thermoelectric properties of single-crystal Si is quite limited, especially for high doping concentrations at high temperatures. In this study, the thermoelectric properties of heavily doped (10(18) - 10(20) cm(-3)) n- and p-type single-crystal Si were studied from room temperature to above 1000 K. The figures of merit, ZT, were calculated from the measured data of electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity. The maximum ZT values were 0.015 for n-type and 0.008 for p-type Si at room temperature. To better understand the carrier and phonon transport and to predict the thermoelectric properties of Si, we have developed a simple theoretical model based on the Boltzmann transport equation with the relaxation-time approximation. (C) 2015 The Japan Society of Applied Physics