The effect of rare-earth filling on the lattice thermal conductivity of skutterudites

DOI PDF 23 Citations
  • G. S. Nolas
    Department of Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180
  • G. A. Slack
    Department of Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180
  • D. T. Morelli
    Physics Department, General Motors Research and Development Center, Warren, Michigan 48090
  • T. M. Tritt
    Materials Physics Branch, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375
  • A. C. Ehrlich
    Materials Physics Branch, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375

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Abstract

<jats:p>Polycrystalline samples of Ir4LaGe3Sb9, Ir4NdGe3Sb9, and Ir4SmGe3Sb9 have been made by hot isostatic pressing of powders. The lattice thermal conductivity of these filled skutterudites is markedly smaller than that of IrSb3; thus, void filling shows promise as a method for improving the thermoelectric properties of these materials. We present the lattice thermal conductivity of these filled skutterudites in an effort to quantify the impact of void filling in this structure. It is believed that the atoms ‘‘rattle’’ in the voids of the structure and therefore interact with a broad spectrum of lattice phonons, reducing their mean free paths substantially below that in the ‘‘unfilled’’ skutterudites. An additional phonon scattering mechanism is caused by phonon-stimulated transitions between the low-lying energy levels of the 4f electron configurations in the case of Nd3+ and Sm3+. Magnetic susceptibility and Hall-effect measurements are also presented.</jats:p>

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